The Cure for the Nightmare
by May Never Know
Summary: Kid, Maka, and their weapons are sent on a mission to hunt a witch. But, when Maka gets angry at her usual companion and gets closer to another, will the mission bring two meisters together in a way neither would have expected? KidXMaka T for language
1. A Witch Hunt in New York City

The Cure For the Nightmare

A/N: This site officially needs more KidXMaka. However, it could also use more Soul Eater-style material. As in, something you'd actually read in the manga. I am here to provide both. Though, with this story, perhaps a little more of the former than the latter. I encourage critique as well as compliments and I hope to make this a five or six chapter story. There is an OC, but she is an antagonist and will be killed at some point, just like every other witch/kishin egg in Soul Eater.

None of the characters or elements related to Atsushi Okubo or the anime adaptation of "Soul Eater" belong to me. All characters belong to their original sources. The only character who does belong to me is my witch. Do not steal her.

In any case, I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1: A Witch Hunt in New York City

"_Fox, Zifox…Vulpes, Vulpenes…"_

Like lost children, an innocent or not-so-innocent human mortal would stray from the main streets and into an alleyway. Or, perhaps, a hardly used side road, an abandoned building, or some other quiet place. They would be following the sounds of a crying baby.

And, one by one, each person would have their bodies turned to ash by foxes of flame that form seemingly from the dust. All that would be left was a soul and ash of the finest quality on the ground where the human had died.

"My, my, just 502 souls left until I have all the ingredients I need." Mused a soft, delighted, voice from the roof top of an abandoned shoe maker's workshop. The voice's owner was tucking the recently stolen soul in a bag in which it would be hidden from any meisters with the soul perception ability. She whispered, "Soul protect." And now her soul's identity as a witch was hidden as well.

The woman then leapt off the roof and quickly ran off into the crowds of New York's night time, wearing a dark green t-shirt and blue jeans. She blended in perfectly and, thanks to soul protect, so did her soul. Anyone with soul perception would have lost track of her witch soul as it took the form of a normal human soul and hid in a crowd of others.

It had been this way, every night, for nearly six years. The witch Morgan would kill two humans and take their souls. She'd take three when feeling particularly impatient. She'd take one if a meister made him or herself known in the city. It had been easy for her.

-----

It was about to get difficult.

"Hello, hi, good evening, Kid, Maka, Soul, Liz, Patty~!" Shinigami-sama clapped his hands together as he enthusiastically greeted the meisters and weapons that stood before him in the realm behind the mirror.

"Good evening." The Shibusen students all greeted with varying levels of their own enthusiasm.

"Maka, my dearest daughter, hi!!!" Spirit, too, was standing by Shinigami-sama's side with a big smile on his face and arms out-stretched for a hug from his one and only child.

"Mmmph…" Maka Albarn instead turned away and muttered something under her breath. Something not too pleasant.

Wanting to change the subject, Death the Kid cleared his throat.

"What is our mission, Honorable Father? You said it was important…"

"Oh, yes, yes. The mission. Well…" An image in the mirror appeared showing what seemed to be a large city.

"Hey! That's New York." Patty pointed out.

"Bingo!" Shinigami-sama applauded. "And that is where you'll all be going."

"Cool!" Soul grinned. He'd never been to New York before.

"Wow…It looks so amazing at night! I think my mom traveled there once, but the postcard she sent me only showed what it looked like during the day…" Maka recalled with a smile.

"Well, it does look cool from here, I guess…" Liz sighed, remembering the _bad_ part of New York that she and Patty grew up in.

"And for what reason will we be going here?" Death the Kid was the best at telling when his father was dodging the question or trying to temporarily avoid an issue. Kid knew this wouldn't be a vacation, so time was of the essence. And Shinigami-sama needed to get to the point.

"Well...You're going to be hunting a witch!"

"Oh…" Kid blinked, smiling slightly. "Is that all?"

"We can do that." Maka chimed in.

"Don't be too confident." Spirit had his ever-so rare serious face on and was speaking in a firm tone. "This witch has eluded us for about six years, now. Every time we've sent a meister with soul perception to go after her, her witch soul would appear for just a few seconds. Then, she'd put soul protect back on and mix with a whole bunch of humans. And that means mixing with a whole bunch of other souls. She's been killing humans and taking their souls for some unknown purpose."

"Hmm…Well, yes. That's about right." Shinigami-sama admitted with a dramatic shrug.

"I don't see how this is gonna be difficult." Soul admitted with a shrug of his own.

"Any witch with that much cunning and sense will be able to use that same ability in battle, I suppose." Kid mused before turning to his father. "Right, Honorable Father?"

The elder shinigami only nodded with an,

"Mmhm…" before clapping his overly large hands together. "Any questions?"

Soul raised his hand.

"How come Black Star and Tsubaki aren't coming with us?"

"Good question!" Shinigami-sama seemed like he would have been smiling if anyone could see his real face. "If Black Star goes to New York with you, I have little doubt that he's going to make a spectacle of himself."

The Shibusen students nodded in agreement.

"Which is a very bad idea, in the case of this witch, because she seems to have eyes and ears in random parts of the city." Spirit elaborated. "If she catches wind of any meisters at all, well…She'll put her guard up even further and it'll be practically impossible to catch her. This is an observation Professor Stein made after hearing stories from countless other Shibusen students who'd been sent on this same mission."

"How many others have you sent for this assignment?" Kid asked calmly.

"Uh, well…" Spirit cleared his throat uncomfortably before turning to Shinigami-sama. Unfortunately, the great shinigami gave a shrug.

"We lost track three years ago." He sounded very casual about this.

"Great." Liz sighed.

"So, that's why we've decided to send two of our best technicians!" Shinigami-sama clapped. "Maka Albarn and my own son Death the Kid. You both have soul perception abilities and you have both proven to be very impressive meisters."

Maka and Kid both exchanged proud looks at this before turning back to face Shinigami-sama.

"When do we leave?" They both asked.

"Right now."

-----

"Well, that was short notice." Death the Kid commented as he rode the skateboard Beelzebub through the night skies on the way to New York.

"I'd say so." Maka agreed with a quiet chuckle as she tried her best to keep balance. The skateboard was cramped, but Kid was obviously practiced enough for it to not be too much of a problem that Maka was occupying half of the space. Soul, Liz, and Patty were all in their weapon forms for obvious convenience. Two people on a skateboard made things cramped. Five people was just plain impossible.

"Any plans for how to deal with finding this particular witch, Maka?" Kid asked suddenly.

"Well…You and I should keep our soul perception fine tuned the whole time we're in the city, right?" Maka began.

Kid nodded.

"I suppose, though it's not an exact method. We'll walk the city streets, all of us in human form so that we aren't suspected to be meisters with weapons, until either you or I catch wind of a witch's soul. That witch is bound to go out hunting for human souls, after all. Once she does, you and I will run to her location while trying to keep track of her soul's position even when she's used soul protect again. It will look like a human soul, but we still have to keep our eyes on it. And, then, if what your father said was true, she'll run off into a crowd of humans. This is when things will get difficult." Kid paused to frown. "Her soul will mix with that of other human souls, but we should still try to keep track of the crowd itself. Once we reach the crowd, we'll intersperse ourselves in it as well. And we'll all keep an eye out for anyone who strays away and goes off by herself."

"And anyone who does stray away…That will be the witch?" Maka asked after listening intently.

"Most likely. At the very least, it will be someone to keep track of. Keep track of her soul and memorize the looks of whoever strays away. Supposedly, this witch goes after two souls per night. Which means she releases her soul protect twice per night. So, the next time she relinquishes her soul protect, we'll know. And that means…"

"That means that we'll know what the witch looks like!" Maka came to this conclusion with a satisfied smile. She was amazed at how smoothly a mission could be planned out with Kid, when the shinigami wasn't fussing over symmetry of course.

Kid returned the smile.

"Exactly. Although, like I said, it's not an exact method. Others will probably leave the crowd besides the witch. We won't know which one's our target, so we'll have to keep track of and memorize the looks of _all_ of them."

"Well, that's going to be difficult." Maka sighed. "But, I guess it's the best we've got. And didn't my dad say something about the witch having eyes and ears all over the place?"

"Which brings up another problem." Kid admitted with unease. "If she finds out that meisters are after her, she'll become more cautious and double her efforts to hide from us…We may have to stay at a hotel for a few days before we finally catch her."

"Well, that's all right, I guess. We'll get two rooms. Soul and I will stay in one. You and the Thompsons will stay in another. Right?" Maka glanced at the scythe in one of her hands as she mentioned Soul.

Kid nodded.

"Of course." He agreed before coming in for a landing near the New York city limits, Maka holding on tightly to Kid as he made a rough turn.

Nothing – not the witch hunt, nor the room assignments – was going to be so easy.

A/N: Well, there you have chapter 1. As you can see, this is more of an introduction than anything else. But, it's a long one, so I called it a chapter. ^^ I hope that you've enjoyed this. The next chapter should be up soon.


	2. Room Assignments

The Cure for the Nightmare

A/N: Well, here's where the plot really starts. Keep in mind that things are going to start slowly. These two should-be love birds Kid and Maka, be it in the anime or in the manga, always seem to have their obstacles. In episode 5, when Kid was about ready to jump in and help Maka in the fight against Stein, his symmetry obsession got in the way. Same with the manga for this same issue. In the manga chapter where he was sent on a mission with Maka to destroy a factory, his symmetry obsession got in the way _twice_. And, during the manga siege on Arachnophobia, he and Maka got separated from each other. Three times, in different ways. See what I mean? These two hardly get the chance to interact. There will be obstacles (i.e. other people) in this story as well. But, we'll get there.

I'll make sure we get there.

Part 2: Room Assignments and the Complications that Ensue

After making a rather death-defying landing in an un-populated area on the outskirts of New York City, Soul and the Thompson sisters proceeded to change into their human forms. Liz stretched her arms.

"Ugh. Thank God." She sighed. "My joints were getting stiff."

"We weren't in our weapon forms _that_ long, Sis!" Patty reminded cheerfully, though she too was stretching her limbs. Indeed, the trip hadn't taken more than an hour of their time. It would have gone faster, though, had there not been two people on the skateboard instead of one.

"So, I guess we should start looking for a hotel to stay at?" Soul suggested.

Death the Kid nodded.

"And, on the way, Maka and I will keep our soul perception tuned in case the witch releases her soul protect." He whispered, weary of the warning that this witch had "eyes and ears" in random parts of the city. He wasn't sure how much he believed this, but it was always good to maintain caution.

"Right." Maka nodded. "Did Shinigami-sama take the time to give any one of us a map of the city?"

"Right here." Liz reached into her jean pocket and took out a map. Kid had actually been given the map, but the young shinigami didn't like to carry anything but the Thompsons in weapon form. He was worried it would make him feel off-balance and, therefore, asymmetrical. This was a rule he only bypassed when it was of the utmost importance.

So, since it wasn't important that he carry the map, Liz had been entrusted with it. As she unfolded it, the others began to try and find out where they were. It wasn't easy, but after some careful surveying of the surroundings (i.e. looking at a street sign), the group of meisters and weapons got their bearings and found that there was a good hotel just north of their location. One with appliances, to Soul's delight. Appliances usually meant "free" videogames. These videogames, as they all would later learn, would be on Kid's budget.

-----

Death the Kid, Maka, Soul, Liz, and Patty reached their hotel without any supernatural incident. Having agreed that, since it had gotten late, they would continue looking the next day, the group decided to check in at the hotel. Kid, by use of a pay phone, had already made reservations for two rooms, each with two beds.

Little did the technicians and their respective weapons know, the witch they were hunting had already finished soul collection work for that night. That was why her soul protect was never released and she never appeared on the technicians' radar.

Now standing by themselves in the elevator on the way to their floor, Kid, Maka, and company had the chance to talk.

"Well, that wasn't much of a success." Soul muttered shaking his head.

"Can't help but agree." Liz rubbed the back of her neck and sighed.

"Yeeaaaah." Patty stuck her tongue out slightly, in her own way of pouting.

"It's going to be very difficult keeping track of specific souls in such a populated city." Maka mused, biting her lip slightly.

Kid nodded.

"Very true. But, if we both focus strongly enough on a few souls, none of the others will appear on our soul perception. It was difficult for me to learn at first, but…" He was probably just being modest about that, Maka thought. When symmetry wasn't an issue, it seemed nothing was difficult for the young shinigami. "It'll come naturally to you after you try practicing a bit."

"You really think so?" Maka smiled.

"Of course, I do." Kid answered honestly. "You have a gift, Maka. It's not often that a mortal possesses such a high level of soul perception. Honorable Father himself told me he's only met a dozen or so in his life time. You'll hone your abilities, I'm sure of it. It'll just take a lot of effort."

Maka laughed.

"Thanks, Kid."

Once the group of five reached their floor, they quickly found rooms 84 and 85.

"Goodnight. See you in the morning, Kid, Liz, Patty." Maka said with a smile as she took out the key for what was to be her and Soul's room.

"Goodnight, Maka, Soul." Kid nodded at each of them before he unlocked his and the Thompson' sisters' room.

-----

After taking her jacket, sweater-vest, and shoes off, Maka was now reading a book by lamplight while sitting in her bed. Soul meanwhile, made use of the hotel appliances (i.e. T.V, videogames) by playing Super Smash Bros. nonstop while sitting in his own bed.

Looking at the two was like looking at Kid and Black Star – Complete opposites. While Maka lay cozily beneath her covers curled up with a good book "Great Expectations", Soul had the blankets twisted up at the foot of his bed and held a videogame controller in his hands while making all kinds of faces in concentration as his videogame sound effects bounced against the walls.

-

Meanwhile, Death the Kid preoccupied himself by peacefully examining the map of the city, making notes of abandoned areas as well as places that just weren't ideal to try and explore. He did this with Liz's and Patty's reluctant help, of course, since they knew the place better than he did.

"Liz, Patty, do you know anything about…" This street or that street, one sister or another would tell him whatever they'd heard or learned about it back in the not-so-distant past when they had been locals of the area. Liz would nod and absent-mindedly mutter something just loud enough for Kid to hear while she painted her fingernails or Patty would drawl something barely coherent out while trying to watch cartoons. Though it was rather troublesome for the Thompsons to have to deal with this every five minutes or so, they knew that Kid, once on a mission, would make it a point to fully dedicate himself to it – body, mind, and quite literally soul…

Unless, of course, asymmetry popped into the situation.

There came a point when Liz caught Kid staring, no, downright _glaring_ at her freshly painted fingernails.

"What?" Liz asked, raising an eye brow.

"Not symmetrical."

"Oh, _God_. What is it, this time, Kid? What's not symmetrical?"

"You missed a spot. On your left hand index finger." Kid pointed almost mechanically. "And I will fix it."

"No, you won't! Last time you tried fixing my nail polish, it took-"

"I'll go faster, this time."

"That's what you said about my eye brows, last time you said you were going to fix them."

"This time, I promise. Just please, _please_, let me-"

"NO!"

"It'll only take-"

"No, no, no! That's final. You need to focus on that map of yours, Kid."

"You _know_ I can't focus when something isn't-"

"Will you both shut up?!?!?!" Patty snapped suddenly. "I'm _tryin'_ to watch '_Tom and Jerry_' over here!!!"

In the end, it was decided that Liz and Kid would work together to paint her fingernail more quickly. It still took an hour. But, Kid, being a shinigami who didn't have to sleep so much, had plenty of time to plot out the path they would all take to look for the witch. By the time he finally decided to settle down and relax with Victor Hugo's "Hunchback of Notre Dame Cathedral", a good book of his own, Liz and Patty were already asleep in their bed. They'd forgotten to turn off the T.V. With a chuckle, Kid took the liberty of turning it off himself before settling under his covers and using his night vision to read. Shinigami-yellow eyes were very reflective and therefore useful, if not just a bit terrifying for whoever happened to see them in the dark for the first time. For a while, Patty's snores were all that could be heard in the room. And, for some reason, they never seemed to bother Liz. And Kid had eventually gotten used to them as well.

What no one could _ever_ get used to were Liz's nightmares.

"Gah! Momsto. Fwaming eyebaw momsto!" This was roughly translated to "Gah! Monster. Flaming eyeball monster." in non-sleeping language. Liz was obviously having troubles with her nightmares.

So like usual, Kid woke her up and (after listening to her describe every last detail of the nightmare) calmed her down, telling her everything was all right and that the monsters wouldn't eat her or set her on fire. Liz was convinced and eventually fell asleep again. After reading till three o'clock in the morning, Kid decided that some sleep couldn't hurt him either and drifted off into happy dreams of symmetry, successful missions, and the book he had been reading…

-

Maka was not so lucky.

"_Soul_," She groaned for the eleventh time that night. "I'm trying to get some sleep! It's three o'clock in the morning! Why are you still playing videogames?"

"Because it's _cool_ to stay up late!" Soul insisted in a way that sounded like it should have been obvious.

"What sense does _that_ make?!" Maka couldn't seem to get it.

"All the cool people stay up late." Soul stated.

"Like who?"

"Like people." Soul shrugged. "And I can't stay up late if I have nothing to do. It's practically impossible. Videogames help keep me awake. I'll sleep in a few."

"GAH! That's what you said an hour ago!" Maka folded her pillow around her head to block out the videogame sound and lay face down on her bed to block out the T.V light. Maybe now, she'd get some sleep. _If only I had a nice, heavy, encyclopedia right now…and enough energy for a Maka-chop… _the technician mused wistfully.

Maka's pillow was hardly sound-proof. However, after two hours of videogaming, the sounds finally stopped and the T.V light flicked off. A rustling of covers from Soul's bed was heard. The meister and weapon finally went to sleep.

-----

For about three hours.

They had all agreed the previous night in the elevator that they would wake up at eight o'clock in the morning to continue the search for the witch. And eat breakfast, of course. So, at around 8:15, Kid tried to be helpful by knocking on Maka's and Soul's door.

Big mistake.

When the door opened, Kid was met by an extremely red-faced Maka.

"_**What?!"**_

Death the Kid nearly fell backwards at the tone in his friend's voice and her facial expression. The young shinigami tried to keep his composure

"Ahh…I'm sorry? I thought we agreed to start witch hunting at this-"

The door was promptly slammed in his face and it wasn't too long before Kid heard a,

"_Soul_! Wake the _hell_ up!" from the other side of the door, which was quickly followed by an,

"Ow! _Shit_!" from the scythe.

Feeling decidedly uncomfortable in his current proximity to the situation, Death the Kid quickly turned and walked back into his and the Thompsons' room.

"Trouble waking them up?" asked Liz, who'd heard the commotion loud and clear.

Kid nodded.

"Something tells me Maka didn't get enough sleep…" He murmured grimly.

At the time, he had no idea how right he was.

-----

"Hey, guys? Would it be okay if we changed room assignments?" Maka asked, having calmed down since her violent wake-up.

"What? Why?" Soul asked. The group was now sitting in a café drinking coffee (Kid, Liz, and Maka) or orange juice (Patty and Soul) and having cinnamon rolls for breakfast. All on Kid's budget, of course.

"Because you kept me up all night last night with your stupid videogames!" Maka hissed. "And why aren't you tired?!" She was nearly clawing at the table before Kid clasped a hand on her shoulder to steady her. To his surprise, it actually calmed Maka down. Though only slightly.

"Well, you could have used ear plugs." Soul muttered, though there was a little bit of guilt in his eyes.

"I don't _have_ ear plugs with me!" Maka pointed out before sighing and shaking her head. "Anyway, I was thinking that if we don't find the witch tonight, I could sleep in the room with Liz and Patty. And Kid could sleep in the room with Soul. Would everyone be okay with that?"

"Eh. Sure." Liz said with a shrug. "I don't mind."

"Me, neither!" Patty agreed with a grin before nearly tackling Maka excitedly. "It'll be like a girls' slumber party!" The three girls laughed.

Normally, Kid would have politely objected to the suggestion. Soul, though something of a friend to Kid, really wasn't an ideal roommate. Maka had experienced that firsthand. However, they were all depending on Kid and Maka's soul perception, which took a great deal of focus. Two people with soul perception were better than one, after all. And, since Kid really didn't need that much sleep himself, he supposed it would be better if Maka got a good night's slumber. It would do wonders for her mood, too. Which was why Kid smiled at his friend and replied,

"Fine by me. Just as long as you get your rest, Maka." As he said this, though, Kid couldn't help but feel like he was forgetting something…

"Thanks, Kid." Maka smiled back at him before turning to Soul. "Is it all right with you, Soul?"

"Yeah, yeah, fine." He sighed and rolled his eyes. It wasn't like his vidogames were _that_ loud or anything, not to his ears at least. Why he had to deal with the symmetry-obsessed shinigami was beyond him. But, he was out-voted. So, there was nothing he could do about it.

"Then, it's settled." Maka smiled contentedly. She was sure that Liz and Patty would be much better roommates than Soul had been. Or, at the very least, they wouldn't stay up that late…

-----

After finishing breakfast, the group used the map to navigate the city and shop for some food to eat while at the hotel (everyone had the feeling that they'd be staying there for a day or two more) and to ask around about "that myth with the witch of New York". Obviously, they couldn't talk about the witch as if they actually believed she existed. Otherwise, they'd look like crack-pots and that would bring them no useful information, Kid pointed out. Eventually, they got a tip that people had been disappearing a lot near an abandoned shoe store on Apple Street. So, that was where Kid decided to do some investigating.

All the while, Maka and the young shinigami kept their soul perception tuned. While the people supposedly disappeared only at night, it never hurt to be careful. That witch might slip up at some point, as Soul put it. However, Maka was having some difficulty keeping her soul perception up. Every ten minutes or so of using it, she'd find herself getting easily distracted and therefore losing her focus. Kid tried to assist and remind her at these points, but sometimes (too focused with his own soul perception) he wouldn't notice and Maka would go for twenty minutes or longer without realizing she'd dropped her perception. The technician blamed her lack of sleep, which she blamed on her weapon. The result was that the air between Maka and Soul remained tense for the entire day. At even the slightest offense, Maka would raise her voice and (sometimes) curse Soul and his "evil videogames".

After much walking and breathing in of the Autumn air, the group finally made it to the infamous Apple Street. It was less crowded than most of New York. A taxi cab would pass only every two minutes or so. The pinkish orange sunset could be seen off in the distance to hint that it was now seven o'clock. Indeed, the meisters and weapons had been working hard for the whole day. So, most everyone felt like punching Death the Kid straight in the face when…

"Supposedly, people have been disappearing here. When things like that happen, in my experience at least, there's usually a witch or a kishin egg involved." Kid spoke firmly and confidently, obviously used to acting as the leader in a mission. "Either way, that's something we'd be interested in. Let's look for clues as to what's been going on in this area."

"Oi. I feel like Scooby-Doo." Soul muttered, kicking at a bolt he'd found on the sidewalk. "Let me guess, we're going to split up or something?"

Kid shook his head at Soul.

"After everything I've heard today, there's no _way_ I'm leaving you alone with Maka. She might kill you. And then people might think _she's_ the reason people have been disappearing here." Kid turned to the scythemaster. "Wouldn't you agree, Maka?"

"It's possible…" Maka said, smiling sheepishly. "At the very least, I might make a scene."

"True. So, since we also can't be separated from our respective partners, we'll just have to search as a group." Kid stated.

And so, as Kid's word was law, they searched as a group. Garbage cans were (reluctantly) opened. People were spoken to. Random lost objects were examined and abandoned buildings were explored. They tore the street apart until, walking through an alleyway, a small discovery was made.

"Ash…" A handful of light gray powder fell from between Kid's fingers. A thin pile of the stuff had been found on the pavement.

"Is it a clue?" Maka asked as she crouched down beside the shinigami.

"Possibly…It certainly makes me curious as to what was burned here…and why it was burned."

"It might have been an accident." Liz suggested.

"Perhaps." Kid nodded. "But, to me, this ash just seems too fine. Almost like talcum as if something…or _someone_ was burned completely and deliberately so that there would be almost nothing left."

"What makes you think it could have been a person?" Soul asked, not looking for flaws in the theory, but actually just wondering what Kid had on his mind.

"I sense residual soul wavelength from these ashes." Kid answered calmly. "It's faint, but unmistakable."

"Hm?" Maka blinked. "Residual soul wavelength…?"

"Yes." Kid turned to look at Maka. "I can sense the residue left from a soul after it's escaped whatever vessel it had. Dead bodies, for example, still have a residual soul wavelength attached to them. You, too, will be able to sense it once your soul perception evolves a little more. Whatever this ash was, human or animal, it had been alive. It had had a soul. Now, if my theory is correct, then this would have been a human. Human souls are very useful in many witch spells, you see. Also, it's interesting to note that there hasn't been a single other reported witch in New York since ten years ago. Which means that the last witch in New York is the one we're looking for and is the one who killed this human and took his soul. I wouldn't be surprised if this witch uses fire-based magic so hot that not even bones are left behind. It would explain why the ashes are this way. Not even the best man-made cremation can turn a human to talcum like this…And, since this ash is still here, we can assume it hasn't been too long since the human was killed. No footprints in it, either. Judging by the fact that the ashes haven't spread too far in the current Fall season, I'd even say these are the remains of yesterday's victim."

From a single pile of ash in the alleyway of a nearly empty street, Death the Kid had deduced that a human had been burned, that he or she had been burned by a witch, that it had happened fairly recently, and that this witch had fire magic powerful enough to incinerate a human so that practically nothing is left but dust.

"You'd make a great detective, Kid." Liz couldn't help but comment, practically reading Maka's mind while she was at it.

Kid nodded slowly with a chuckle before standing up.

"Thank you. So, now we know that the witch has been here. But, we still don't know how we're going to find out where she is or where she'll be…"

There was a pause for everyone to think. Then, Maka looked over at Kid.

"Hey, Kid, is the residual wavelength from this ash strong enough for you to trace where the actual soul it belongs to is?"

Kid smiled slightly.

"You know, I think so." He placed his hand in the ash again and concentrated for a moment. Then, he frowned and looked up suddenly. "The trail goes up on to that roof top…And then it disappears."

Maka's eyes widened.

"Wh-What? How is that possible?"

Kid shook his head.

"I'm not sure. But, it's getting late. We should probably head back to the hotel. Maybe, the witch will release her soul protect for us to find her on the way."

It was agreed upon, so the meisters and weapons began to walk back towards the hotel. Yet again, Maka kept her soul perception tuned for the witch. She was getting horribly tired, but tried her best to stay focused anyway so that Kid wouldn't have to drop his perception a little to remind Maka about her own.

Half-way to the hotel, a deluge of negative soul wavelength washed over Death the Kid and Maka. Their soul perception showed them their target's location – a roof top five miles away. Liz, Patty, and Soul all silently transformed into weapons. It was time for a witch's soul to be seized.

"Beelzebub." Kid's skateboard formed from his hand and hovered half a foot over the ground. He caught his weapons before hopping on to his transportation. Kid politely held an arm out to Maka, which she used to lift herself on board a split second before the skateboard bolted off above the roof tops and into the night sky. Maka had to quickly grasp on to the shinigami (and he on to her) to keep from having the skateboard ripped away from beneath her feet. The witch's soul was on Death the Kid's radar and there was no way he would lose track of it. Even when the witch hid with soul protect again, Kid focused his soul perception so that this now seemingly human soul was the only soul that showed up. When the witch blended in with a crowd of humans, it became more difficult.

The result was that Kid found himself focusing too much on the witch soul and not enough on watching where his dangerously fast skateboard was flying.

"Kid! Look out!" Maka exclaimed.

Kid just barely managed to heed her words and swerve past a tall skyscraper.

"Damn!" He hissed, his focus wavering as other souls clouded the witch's in his vision. "Maka, I need to watch where I'm going. Do you have the witch's soul locked in your perception?"

"Well…" Maka bit her lip, her cheeks suddenly turning pink. She managed to convince herself that honesty was the best policy. "I _did_, really…But…I sort've spaced out a few minutes ago and…and I'm sorry, Kid!"

There was a long, uncomfortable, silence before Kid sighed and spoke calmly.

"That's fine, Maka. It's not entirely _your_ fault that you're too tired to focus." All five of them knew whose fault it was. But, the scythe was pointedly silent as they turned around in mid-air and glided back towards the hotel. "To be honest, I'm quite impressed that you were able to focus on one soul for any length of time at all. Good effort, Maka."

Kid was certain that, the next day at least, Maka would be awake enough to properly aid him in keeping track of the witch.

At least, he hoped. It was at some point while the group was separating into their assigned rooms and Maka was telling him 'goodnight' that Kid realized what he'd been forgetting when he accepted his friend's request to change room assignments…

Patty's snores could wake the dead and Liz had a habit of waking up and narrating her nightmares to you in detail worthy of a prose writer.

Oh, well, Kid told himself as he hung up his jacket. Too late, now.

---

A/N: …Wow, that turned out to be longer than I thought. 4,700 or so words…So, yeah, there won't be that many chapters. But, they'll be very LONG chapters. :D More KidMaka next chapter and most definitely Jealous!Soul! ^^ I hope you enjoyed this chapter. The next update should come soon!


	3. Conflict and Decisions

The Cure for the Nightmare

A/N: Well, another chapter, another day to try and catch that sly witch. XD And another night for Maka to try and get some sleep. Yay! :D I must say I've been very happy with the reviews (though few) and favorites I've been getting for this story. They motivate me to keep writing! Then again, so does summer break overall. ^^ In any case, I'd like to thank everyone for reviewing, faving, and story alerting this series. As such, I hope to keep this story going till the end!  I may even write a sequel of some sort.

Well, I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Expect a little Jealous!Soul (but subtle, not hostile...at first XD) and a little more Pissed!DtK (hostile _and_ subtle). XD

------

Chapter 3: Conflict and Decisions

It wasn't long before Death the Kid realized he would have to endure the same exact torture as Maka had the previous night.

"Do you have _any_ concern for others' right to peace and quiet?" Kid had asked once around ten o'clock at night after he had finished making plans for the next day and was ready to settle down with a good book.

"Do you have _any_ concern for others' right to play videogames?" Soul retorted, coming pretty close to mimicking Kid's tone, without looking away from the T.V screen.

"That's not a _right_. That's a…" Kid began, but then trailed off, shaking his head. It was pointless, he realized. Even if it _was_ on Kid's budget that Soul was able to play videogames. It would be more trouble than it was worth to try and stop the scythe. So, the shinigami simply lay back against his pillow, cracked open a book, and began to try and read despite the videogame sound effects.

After a half an hour, Soul spoke.

"Hey, Kid…"

"_Yes?_" Kid practically hissed, looking up from behind his book.

"What do you think of Maka?"

Well, _that_ was an interesting question. And Kid had to think about it. He had a lot of thoughts about Maka, actually. But, he decided to say the ones that he understood.

"I respect her as an intelligent, relatively mature, and determined comrade and I am impressed by our ability to easily team resonate…Also, I like her as a hard-working, warm, assertive, honest, and kind companion." Kid then turned to Soul. "In short, I look at her as a good friend who is very nice to talk as well as work with."

Soul listened patiently to Kid before pausing his game and looking over at him.

"You sure? Nothing more than that?"

Kid, afraid his words would betray his deeper thoughts, simply stared Soul straight in the eyes and said nothing.

Apparently satisfied, Soul let out what almost sounded like a sigh of relief before turning back to the television and resuming his videogame. So, Kid re-directed his attention back to his book. But, it wasn't long before Soul spoke again.

"I notice you two…_staring_ at each other sometimes." His eyes seemed to gaze straight through the videogame he was playing.

Kid froze with eyes still on the page of his book. He tried to ignore Soul, but he found himself reading the same line over and over again. His roommate's words hit him so much and what made it worse was that he wasn't entirely sure how to respond. So, he tried his best to seem nonchalant.

"Like when?"

"Like on the way to New York." Soul was trying just as hard to sound nonchalant as Kid, but a hint of bitterness crept through. "Once in a while, you almost flew into something because you were looking at Maka. And, once in a while, she'd look back at you…and…_smile_."

"Soul, are you jealous?" Kid asked, rather than try and defend himself from that evidence. He had learned in battle that a good offense was often the best defense.

"Agh! Don't dodge the question, Kid!" Soul paused his game to narrow his eyes at the shinigami.

"Actually, wouldn't you say that you're now dodging _my_ question?" Kid would fight with words if he had to, to keep from admitting anything. "Are. You. _Jealous?_" He said each word like it acted as its own sentence.

"Well, of course, I am! Don't I have the right to be? She's _my_ partner. Why does she give _you_ those looks? I don't think she's ever looked at me that way…"

"You have the right to feel whatever way you want. Just as long as you don't do anything brash." Kid stated. This acted as both a warning and a way to avoid this most recent question. _Heh… _Kid thought. _Maybe, I am becoming like my father. I'm finding myself dodging the questions that I don't want to answer…_

"And, just today…" Soul began.

_Oh, God. He's __**still**__ speaking. _Kid thought grimly before listening to Soul with a bland type of annoyance.

"You two started talking while we were at the diner and you sort've seemed to ignore the Thompsons and me. It was like you were on a _date_."

"Soul, we were making plans for the mission. Maka and I both know that we're the best for that sort of thing…And, sometimes we just strayed off topic a little. That was all." Kid was becoming increasingly irritated.

"And, when we were going after the witch, you wrapped an arm around her shoulders for a…"

"Now, Soul, _that_ was so she wouldn't fall off, break her neck, and die." Kid deadpanned. "It's sort've what friends do when their hands are full and they don't want to have to go to a funeral after the mission's over. Not everyone takes a black blood sword slash through the chest for someone just because they've got a _crush_ on her."

It was obvious that Kid, when he was losing patience, could get vicious.

And, apparently, so could Soul. He was up first, but Kid was fast. It was only a matter of seconds before the two were standing on top of their respective beds, gripping on to each others' shirt collars from across the gap, and ready to fight to the death. Their free hands were raised as fists.

"Remember what I said about not doing anything _brash_?" Kid hissed coldly.

"Remember what you said about my right to feel _jealous_?" Soul shot back.

Kid's book had gone flying carelessly to the opposite side of the room. The television screen, video game abandoned, had two large words shown in bright red:

'GAME OVER'

-----

((A/N: *ahem* Sorry to interrupt you like this. But, before anyone says ANYTHING, those "stares" Soul was talking about? Yeah. Those are practically canon. If you'll just examine some of the manga cover art (created by the mangaka himself) you'll notice Kid and Maka have a lot of *STARE* moments. Some of which include Kid actually smiling secretively. :D So, yes. I have evidence for this. It's not just something I'm shoving in here to speed things up. Anyways, continue. ^^))

-----

Meanwhile, Liz and Patty had been attempting to have "girl talk" with Maka. This was apparently somewhat difficult for the meister.

"Oh, come on! You _really_ don't have a crush on anyone?" Liz sounded disbelieving.

Maka smiled weakly.

"Well, no…Not _really_."

"That's okay, Maka! I don't, either." Patty laughed.

"All right. Let's try this, then." Liz sighed before smiling hugely. "What do you think about…Black Star?"

"Ugh. Absolutely not. He's just a friend. And, really, I don't think I could stand talking to him one-on-one for longer than five minutes." Maka shook her head.

"Okaaaay…What about Ox?" Liz was naming off every guy she could think of, desperate to have a "Girls Slumber Party"-esque situation.

"Ew. No way. Maybe, I've grown to respect him a little. But, he's still really annoying and full of himself." Maka stuck her tongue out.

"_And_ his hair's funny!" Patty grinned, snickering quietly.

"That, too." Maka chuckled.

"Agreed." Liz thought for a moment. "How about…Soul?"

"Ugh." Maka shook her head. "He's a good partner and piano player, but sometimes he just pisses me off. With how he tries to act all 'cool' and everything. Why can't he just ignore what's 'cool' and just consider other peoples' feelings."

"In other words…You're still angry at him for playing videogames all night last night, huh?" Liz smiled knowingly.

"I guess you could say that." Maka nodded with a weak smile of her own.

"Yeah, that was stupid of him!" Patty stuck her tongue out.

"And we lost the witch because of it." Liz sighed.

"Yeah." Maka admitted. "That's true. But, really, it isn't just what he did last night that pisses me off. Sometimes, he's just way too quick to pick a fight. And he doesn't always seem to care about my feelings, like when he calls me things like 'tiny-tits' and 'idiot' and 'un-cool'…"

There was a comfortable silence as Liz and Patty each laid a hand on Maka's shoulder to comfort her.

"Hey, you know that he's wrong in most of what he says!" Patty grinned.

"And, hey, maybe he's just joking." Liz nodded.

"I guess. But, still…It's not very nice." Then, Maka laughed suddenly. "Which I guess is why I have to give him Maka-chops a lot!"

All three girls laughed at that one.

"That's right, Maka! Gotta discipline him!" Liz joked.

"Hahaha! You should start bringing an encyclopedia to your missions, huh?" Patty snickered.

Maka smiled.

"Thanks, you two."

"No prob." Liz shrugged. "By the way, I have to say it was really nice of Kid to trade rooms with you."

"Yeah, I know…" Maka smiled before blinking. "Why are you bringing that up, though?"

"Well, you were talking about Soul and…Let's just say that Kid and Soul aren't the most eager to get along…" Liz rubbed the back of her neck.

"They're like friends who don't like each other!" Patty laughed.

"Oh…" Maka chuckled. "I understand…Actually, thinking about it, I'm sort've worried about those two right now. I hope they're not murdering each other…"

"Ha. Don't worry about Kid. He's not quick to pick a fight, but if someone picks a fight with him, he's quick to retaliate…" But, then Liz's smile fell and she deadpanned, "So, you might want to check on them to make sure Soul's not dead."

"Eheh…Maybe, you've got the right idea." Maka hopped off of her bed and walked out of the room.

-

Maka Albarn knocked on Death the Kid and Soul's door.

"Hey, Kid, Soul? It's Maka."

"Just a moment." Came Kid's ever-polite voice. She heard footsteps and, eventually, the door opened. "Yes, Maka?" The shinigami had a very content smile on his face.

"Umm…" Maka couldn't help but look over Kid's shoulder and see Soul laying sprawled out on his bed, flat on his back. He seemed to be unconscious. "What did you…do to Soul?"

Kid gave a chilling chuckle.

"Oh, I just convinced him to stop playing his annoying videogames." He smirked, not wanting to reveal the _true_ reason for their fight.

"Oh. Okay…Is he…alive?" Maka asked calmly.

"Of course. He's sleeping peacefully, now. I don't think he'll be causing me anymore trouble, tonight." Kid smiled contently. "So, was there any particular reason you wanted to see us? I can take a message if you wanted to talk to Soul…"

"Ah, no!" Maka shook her head with a smile. "I just wanted to make sure you two were both…all right. That's all."

"Oh?" Kid shrugged, leaning against the door frame so that Maka could get a full view of himself and Soul. "Well, as you can see, we're both just fine."

And, indeed, though clearly unconscious and with a less-than-pristine look on his face, Soul seemed perfectly all right.

So, Maka turned back to Kid and smiled.

"You succeeded where I failed, Kid." She laughed. "Not even I could convince him to turn off those videogames."

"Hm. It wasn't that difficult." Kid shrugged. "Just needed to be firm."

_**Very**__ firm. Firm, like smacking him against the wall a couple of times. I wonder how long those bruises on Soul's head and back will take to heal? Good thing Maka doesn't plan on flipping Soul over on to his stomach…_Kid thought, holding in his sigh of relief.

"And you really didn't have to…_kill_ him?" Maka raised an eye brow.

"No. Of course, not." Kid answered with a chuckle.

_I just had to teach him a lesson._ He thought calmly.

Maka smiled.

"So, how's the mission planning been going?"

"Fairly well." Kid answered, crossing his arms casually as he looked at Maka. "I'd discuss it further with you, but wouldn't you prefer to get some rest? After getting hardly any sleep last night, I mean…"

"Oh! Right. That's a good idea." Maka nodded. "Well, goodnight, Kid. See you in the morning."

Kid smiled.

"Goodnight, Maka." And, with that, Maka turned and walked back to the room she was sharing with the Thompson sisters.

Kid was left to close the door, pick his book off the floor (which had apparently gone unseen by Maka), and lay back in his bed. As he flipped through the pages, he let out a contented sigh.

He would have a peaceful sleep tonight.

-----

Maka, unfortunately, wouldn't.

If she didn't know any better, she would have thought that she was sharing this room with an earthquake and a poor quality radio that she couldn't turn off.

The earthquake was Patty, whose snores could probably shake the kishin from his slumber. Liz took the place of the radio, constantly muttering and murmuring in her sleep, once in a while shouting out some random word. To try and bore herself to sleep, Maka had counted the words that Liz had named off so far. They included, in this order: Strawberry, duck, Jupiter, Patty, Kid, eyeball, Maka, book, and jell-o.

To Maka's dismay, counting these words was actually vaguely entertaining. So, even at two o'clock in the morning, she was still awake and glaring at the ceiling. How could Kid possibly sleep through this every night? Was there more to being a shinigami than she thought? Shinigamis couldn't be hard of hearing, _could_ they? Or maybe it was just because Kid was a god and gods could create miracles, like being able to sleep through a war. That seemed plausible, to Maka…

"NO! No! Ewil!" Liz was now shouting. "Melp ne! I dunno my da mowstos wanna et me!!! Gwostsssss!!! AAAAAAH!!!!!"

_Oh, God. Oh, Shinigami-sama, no!_ Maka thought. _She's having __**nightmares**__._

So, Maka, realizing how terrified Liz probably was, decided to get out from beneath the covers and shake Liz's shoulder vigorously to wake her up. It took a couple of tries, but Liz eventually blinked her eyes open.

"What? Huh? …Maka! I had the most horrible nightmare! I was walking and…and…" She rubbed her eyes sleepily before continuing, "And you were there. And you were there and Kid was there and Patty was there! I was eating strawberries. And then Patty…She…she turned into a duck monster! And she tried to eat me! Her head was a really giant eye ball with a duck bill and she had green feathers! Oh, wait. Thinking about it, I don't think she was a monster. That's right! She was an alien! From Jupiter. And she wanted to eat me! Wait, didn't I already say that? Oh, nevermind. But, then you and Kid and me – We ran and…and then you got eaten! And Kid was _so_ pissed, he beat the Patty-monster up! And I was…I was crying and…"

And Liz went on to describe in great detail (as she began to wake up fully) how the "Patty-monster" came back to life and ate Liz and she appeared in a place where ghosts were. And then Maka appeared out of nowhere and Maka-chopped all the ghosts to death. And then Kid showed up and they all ate jell-o.

Another hour passed before Liz was finally finished with the story.

"Okay." Maka deadpanned. "Now, sleep." And, with that, she walked back over to her bed and buried herself in the blankets. With a shrug, Liz nodded.

"Night-night." Elizabeth Thompson muttered before laying back down and falling asleep as if nothing had happened. Patty hadn't woken up once during the entire narrative of Liz's nightmare. Maka was envious, decidedly irritated at the world. At least, for the moment.

It wasn't that Maka didn't sympathize with Liz, of course. It was just that she also felt sorry for _herself_! This was the second night that she foresaw would het her hardly any sleep. She needed to catch up, after the previous night! There was a mission, after all. She'd been relying almost completely on Kid lately. That wouldn't work in the end. And the next night would probably be the same way if she shared a room with either Soul or the Thompsons, Maka realized. So it was then, as she lay beneath her blankets, that the girl decided she would have to ask Death the Kid if they could share a room the next night.

Maka was a bit hesitant about this for two reasons. Reason #1: She wasn't used to sleeping within the same _house_ as Kid, let alone the same room. She was more used to Soul. Of course, she wasn't _technically_ used to sleeping in the same space as the Thompson sisters, either. But, then that brings up reason #2: Unlike the Thompsons, Kid was a guy. Of course, Kid was also a gentleman…when symmetry wasn't an issue, at least. And he was the only guy friend of Maka's who wasn't a pervert in the slightest. Every time Blair would come flouncing into the room naked on days when the whole gang was visiting, Soul would stare with a nosebleed along with Black Star while Kid's jaw would drop in shock and he'd give a disgusted look before turning away and telling the cat-in-human-form to wear something decent.

Plus, Kid wasn't a stranger. He was a good friend. So, for all these reasons, Maka decided that she could trust him with something like this.

Her last thought before falling asleep at four o'clock was that she would ask tomorrow.

-----

Now, someone getting three hours of sleep in one night is pretty bad. But, to get only four hours of sleep the _next_ night? That was just Hell.

So, naturally, Maka was not getting up by the time it was wake-up hour. She wasn't waking up no matter _how_ much Liz and Patty wacked her with pillows and yelled in her face. After twenty-five minutes of trying, Liz finally gave up and asked for Death the Kid and Soul's help while Patty continued to smack Maka with pillows.

"Dang. She's sleeping like a rock." Soul mused.

"_You're_ one to talk. It took me ten minutes of shouting, plus smacking my book against your head, to wake you up, Soul." Kid reminded blandly.

"Well, that's not entirely _my_ fault, is it?" Soul quipped, referring to last night's schism. When Death the Kid knocked you out, you usually _stayed_ out.

"Um, hello? A little help here?" Liz reminded the two guys as she pointed down at Maka.

"Oh. Right." Soul turned to his partner and, to Kid's shock, reached under the mattress and seemed like he was about to flip it over.

"_Ahem_." Kid cleared his throat noisily. "_What_ are you doing?"

"Waking Maka up." Soul answered with a sigh. "Obviously, this is the only way to do it."

Okay. So, Kid couldn't deny that. Maka was indeed sleeping like Patty or Black Star after they ate too much. And, actually, Kid felt responsible. He told himself he should have warned her about Patty and Liz's…sleeping issues. Because Kid was sure that those issues were to blame for Maka's lack of sleep and apparent inability to wake up.

So, Kid held a hand up.

"No."

"Huh?" Soul blinked.

"Let her sleep." And, with that, Death the Kid sat down on the edge of Maka's bed that Soul had been trying to lift.

"What? But, what about the mission?" Soul asked.

"Yeah, don't we have to catch that witch?" Liz nodded.

"Yes. But, I would very much appreciate Maka's skills in doing so. And, since she's obviously not been up to her full potential lately, I think that what she needs most right now is rest." Kid asserted before adding, "Besides, it seems that the witch is most likely to show up at night. Probably because she's more difficult to see. So, we shouldn't have too many problems if Maka just sleeps in a little. I'll stay with her. Soul, Liz, Patty, you can go eat breakfast somewhere if you want."

"Why do _you_ have to stay here?" Soul asked, close to sounding accusatory.

"I'm a shinigami." Death the Kid reminded. "I don't have to eat as much as a mortal. Skipping breakfast won't be a problem for me."

"Well, aren't _you_ special?" Soul snarled.

Liz ignored him pointedly.

"Let's go, then. After breakfast, we'll wait for you and Maka at Central Park. All right, Kid?"

"Right." Kid nodded. He knew he'd probably be able to get another map from the hotel front desk. "See you then."

"Byyyyeeee, Kid!" Patty waved as she took Soul's arm and forcefully dragged him out of the room while a chuckling Liz followed. The door was closed.

And now Kid was left sitting next to a dozing Maka Albarn. The shinigami kept himself preoccupied with some good math. _How many hours of sleep has she had over two days? Hmm…Three hours on one night. For her age group, six hours per night are the average. That means she'd need twelve hours for two nights. So, assuming she had at least one hour of sleep last night, she may need eight more hours to catch up completely. Tops. But, she probably can't sleep for that long. So, she'd probably go for five more hours…I may have to wait till one o'clock in the afternoon…Oh, no. Soul and the Thompsons may __**also**__ have to wait till one o'clock._

And so Kid was left with wondering how to pass the time until then. He let out a ragged sigh before something on Maka's nightstand caught his eye.

"Hm? A book…" Kid picked it up and examined it. "Great Expectations", huh? Well, now, he'd read that at some point. It had started out weakly in his opinion, but had gotten much better, if he remembered correctly.

_So, she likes to read…That's nice, though I can't say I'm surprised with how intelligent she is. _Kid thought with a small smile before he set Maka's book down. The shinigami then stood up and began to walk around the room anxiously. Eight hours here, tops. What would he do? Was there anything _to_ do? Kid wasn't a fan of videogames. Nor did television entertain him. So, he quickly left the room and took his book from the room he'd used the previous night.

The shinigami sat on the edge of Maka's bed and settled into reading "Hunchback of Notre Dame Cathedral". He hoped to Honorable Father that this book could last him five hours.

-----

"Hey, Soul, is there something wrong?"

Soul, Liz, and Patty were sitting at a table in the café that they'd sat in the previous morning. Soul looked up at Liz when she spoke and he shook his head.

"Nah. Nothing." Soul answered, his eyes trailing down to his orange juice as he shifted rather nervously.

"Really?" Liz frowned. "Because you and Kid seemed to be a little bit ticked at each other this morning…"

"I said, it's nothing!" Soul practically snapped.

"Hey! She was just trying to help, Soul!" Patty pouted.

Soul sighed.

"I know…_Sorry_." He rubbed the back of his head, where his head had hit the wall about ten hours ago after he'd picked a fight with the wrong shinigami. "I guess you could say I just had a rough night..."

"It's okay, I guess. We all know how that is." Liz shrugged. "I can't imagine you and Kid got along too well, huh?"

Soul winced, but nodded.

"You could say that." He tilted his head slightly as he stabbed a fork through the center of his cinnamon roll.

Patty laughed at this, apparently finding it amusing in a strange way. Then again, she seemed to find a lot of things amusing.

"And…I'm guessing you don't feel like talking about it." Liz tilted her head to the side and furrowed her brow at Soul.

"It's something between Kid and me, all right? We just had a bit of an argument." The scythe asserted before stuffing his mouth with part of his cinnamon roll. "I don't want to talk about it." He said with his mouth full.

"Uh-huh. Guessed that." Liz muttered before sighing. "Wonder how long it's going to take Maka to wake up, anyway?"

"Eh. Who knows?" Soul shook his head. "Doesn't seem like she got much sleep last night…"

"Huh. Can't imagine why that would be. We all went to bed at the same time. About 10:30." Liz recalled.

"It's probably because you talk in your sleep, Liz~!" Patty giggled.

Soul laughed while Liz groaned.

"Well, your snores make you sound like a train station, Patty." Liz responded with a chuckle.

"Reeeally?" Patty grinned, taking a deep breath before she let out a loud, "CHOO-_CHOO_~!"

That got both Soul and Liz howling. Patty's impression had sounded _realistic_. The three were probably the funniest sight in that café.

Eventually, they finished off breakfast and, after ignoring some looks from other customers, left the café and headed for Central Park.

They all hoped they wouldn't have to wait that long.

-----

After about four hours (one less than Kid had expected), Maka finally began to stir.

Still sitting on the side of her bed, Kid closed his book and turned to his friend with a pleasant smile.

"Good afternoon, Maka." He chuckled.

"Wh…What?" Maka was still trying to wake up. She rubbed her eyes open and blinked in the light. "After…_Afternoon?_ _Kid?_" Then, she sat up and started to look around. "Where are…?"

"I'm guessing you didn't get much sleep last night." Kid sighed.

Maka gave him a weak smile for an answer. She began to murmur,

"Kid…Kid, I wanted to ask you…"

"I should apologize." Kid spoke, rubbing the back of his neck. "I should have warned you about Liz and Patty's…Well, I'm sure you know by now. I'm sorry."

Maka, fully awake now, chuckled quietly.

"It's all right, Kid. I forgive you. I guess you'd probably be so used to them by now, you wouldn't think to mention it."

She'd gotten it right on the nose. Kid laughed.

"What's so funny?" Maka asked, trying to sound indignant though she couldn't help but smile.

"Nothing. You're just right. That's all. Funny how you do that." Kid shook his head.

"How I do what?" Maka raised an eye brow out of curiosity.

"Guess things so well like that, I mean. That's all." Kid shrugged before standing up. "Anyway, I suppose we should go and meet the others. I told them to go on and eat breakfast without us, you see. They're waiting at Central Park…"

Maka nodded.

"Right…But, uh…What time is…?" She trailed off as she examined the clock on her night stand. "12:30?! Oh, my god, I just…Oh, I'm so sorry, Kid, I-"

"That's fine." Kid assured her with a nod. "Just get ready so that our friends don't wait too long."

Maka seemed rushed as she stood up and got to slipping her yellow sweater-vest on, buttoning her black jacket, and putting her shoes on. Kid was, of course, ready. So, the two quickly left the hotel room. They started to talk on the way.

"Hey, Kid, why didn't you guys just wake me up?" Maka asked, somewhat out of breath from her hurried pace.

Kid couldn't help but grin.

"Liz and Patty _did_ try to wake you up. It didn't work. So, Soul was about to flip your mattress over. But, I told them to let you sleep so that you'd do well for the mission." He explained.

"Oh…" Maka chuckled. "Got it."

"So, do you still feel tired?" Kid asked.

"Well...Yeah." Maka sighed. "A little bit. Thanks for letting me sleep in, Kid. You're a really nice guy."

"Hm? If you say so…" Kid smiled slightly.

"By the way, Kid. I wanted to ask you something." Maka looked at him.

"Go ahead. What is it?" Kid asked calmly.

"Would it be okay if…if maybe you and I shared a room, tonight?"

At this, Kid didn't hesitate as he turned to Maka.

"If that's what you want, Maka, I would be happy to."

The technician couldn't help but smile at her friend.

"Thanks, Kid."

"Any time, Maka…"

As they left the hotel, the duo immediately switched on their soul perception, just in case, and decided that they'd present the new room assignments to the others once they all met up. Maka was sure it'd be fine, but Kid didn't seem so certain about Soul.

"Why wouldn't he be all right with it?" Maka asked, tilting her head to one side as she stared at Kid.

"Well…" But, then Kid shook his head and waved it off. "I guess our time as roommates didn't really end well, that's all…"

"Oh…That's all?" Maka shrugged. "Well, I know that. But, it should be okay anyway. I mean, if there is something wrong, then Soul's out-numbered, so there's not much he can do about it. Right?"

"Haha…" Kid nodded. "Right." He still wasn't entirely convinced, though. And Maka could tell, but she decided not to pry.

But, after five minutes of casual conversation, the two suddenly felt that same negative energy as the previous night.

"The witch!" They both exclaimed as her soul appeared in their perception.

"That witch is absolutely unpredictable." Kid murmured as he quickly called Beelzebub. He hopped on to the skateboard and reached a hand out to Maka.

She blinked.

"But, we don't have our weapons!"

"We don't have to fight her. We just have to know what she looks like so that finding her comes more easily." He said.

So, Maka nodded in agreement before taking his hand and boarding Beelzebub. She held on tightly as Kid took off. He was clearly determined and so was Maka. This was the mission, after all.

Their friends would have to wait.

-----

A/N: Bleh. Not much to say here. :) I hope you all enjoyed this! I finished it in the middle of the night for you guys, so no matter how sucky it is, you'd all better be grateful! XDDD

In any case, I'm not too sure I'm satisfied with this chapter...But, I did my best! ^^ It'd be nice if you told me what you think, though.


	4. Disaster, but with Possibility

The Cure for the Nightmare

A/N: T_T I am a slow writer. Maybe, it's because I like to take time to do everything right the first time I do it. :p As impossible as that is. But, your reviews motivate me to move faster! And I've been getting what I consider to be a fair amount of reviews and a LOT of faves and story-alerting. ^^ So, I'll continue to update the stories all the way to the end. Thanks, everybody! Even those that fave and don't review are appreciated (though not as much :3), because it means that my stories are liked enough to keep track of.

In any case, I imagine that the previous chapter wasn't all that exciting/squee-inducing or manga-like, so this one will have a good dose of action combined with a _very_ good dose of KidMaka and Jealous!Soul.

Oh! And someone gave me a nice review, but it was unsigned, so I'll just have to reply to it right here:

_To "K.": Hehe. Thank you! Those stares are a lovely little thing that a lot of insanely observant KidMaka fans have combed the manga for. XD And yes, I have read chapter 63. ^^ It is true. That moment of protectiveness made me (and a lot of other KidMaka lovers) VERY happy. :D Totally agree with you on that last statement as well. But, who knows? Maybe, the mangaka will decide to follow through with these very subtle hints he's been dropping us…_

_^^ And don't worry, I will!_

All right. That's the end of my author note. So, happy reading, everyone.

I hope you all enjoy this insanely long chapter! :)

-----

Chapter 4: Disaster, but with Possibilities

It wasn't long, as Death the Kid and Maka Albarn soared through the air towards their target, before the witch activated soul protect again. But, now somewhat revitalized, Maka was able to focus heavily on the soul that now appeared to be that of a human's. But, the technicians knew better. Kid tried his best to keep at least a light focus on the witch soul's general location so that he wouldn't have to ask Maka for directions, but also wanted to make sure they didn't fly into anything. Kid would be fine, of course. He knew that. But, Maka…Well, the shinigami didn't even want to imagine what might happen to her if they suddenly found themselves traveling at mach 2 straight through an office building.

Luckily, they never had to suffer through that. It wasn't long before Maka pointed down to a woman below.

"That's her…" She whispered. The witch had her back turned to them and so Maka didn't want to alert her to their presence. Kid and Maka's target had long, fiery, red hair with lots of curls. She was wearing a dark red tank-top as well as blue jeans and tennis shoes. Overall, she looked like your average early-twenties woman just walking on the sidewalk among a group of people.

Kid and Maka hovered in the air for a bit to examine her.

"Hmmm…"

"What is it, Kid?"

"You know, I wish I could see her face. But, I think I remember us crossing paths with her the first day we came here." Kid whispered.

"Me, too. On all accounts."

As if deciding to grant their wish, the woman below stopped walking and snapped her head around to stare directly at them. She may have been twenty or so meters away, but Maka was almost positive she saw a smirk on the lips of the witch.

"Damn!" Kid hissed. "She's been expecting us!" And, without a single hint of hesitation, the shinigami turned the skateboard around mid-air and shot off into the blue.

Maka continued to hold on tight, but was also looking at the witch behind them. She'd apparently leapt on to a roof.

If Maka had been able to read lips, she would have known that the women was chanting,

"Fox, _Zifox_…Vulpes, _Vulpenenes_…" while moving her hands in a rhythmic fashion in tune with her words. From her hands came what appeared at first to be nothing but small embers, but these quickly grew into countless flying beasts of bright orange flame that appeared very similar to foxes. And they were all giving chase after the two meisters.

It wasn't long before Kid sensed that they were being followed.

"Maka, what's going on?"

"That witch just cast a spell. She's sending foxes of fire after us!" Maka exclaimed as she realized what the witch had done. "And…and they're starting to catch up!" There was a tone of horror in her voice at this.

Kid realized that this was starting to go very badly. And, once again, he blamed himself. What was he thinking going after a witch for _any_ reason without weapons? The shinigami made a promise to himself that, to make up for putting Maka in danger like this, he would ensure that nothing unspeakable happened to her as result.

But, the way the two technicians were standing on Beelzebub now, with one person on one end and the other on the opposite end…It was too awkward, not streamline enough. So, Kid spoke.

"Maka. I need you to shift your position so that you are standing with your feet spread out across the board. That way, we're both in the same position and your feet are between mine. Otherwise, I won't be able to maneuver as well as I need to right now. Can you do that?"

Maka digested Kid's instructions for a moment and couldn't help but feel a small hint of blush creep across her cheeks. Nevertheless, she nodded.

"Right."

"I'll help you." So, Kid and Maka adjusted themselves in a way so that both had their feet spread across the board with one of Kid's feet at each end and Maka's feet between them. Her back was against his chest and their cheeks were almost touching as both kids were facing the same direction.

Maka felt her face heat up and Kid would have felt the same, had he not been too busy zig-zagging between buildings and trying to get the flame foxes to lose his trail. Saying it was difficult would have been putting it lightly. The witch's magical familiars seemed to be honing in on them with an unnatural resilience and determination.

How could Kid tell? He felt the temperature increase in the air around him. It was horribly unsettling and Kid knew that they couldn't keep going like this for long. They would have to end this somehow, without weapons. And Kid knew exactly how to do it.

_Have to find a large body of water… _He thought frantically. Water was the only way to extinguish the flames of those creatures.

So, after picking up speed, Kid and Maka eventually reached the New York coastline.

"Kid, what are we going to do? They're still coming after us." Maka sighed. And indeed, though the flame foxes had fallen behind a bit because Kid was more skilled in maneuvering through tight spaces than they were, the sounds of crackling and hissing fire could still be heard about thirty meters in the distance.

Kid frowned, chewing his lip slightly. There was only one option. And it was still extremely dangerous. But, Hell's foxes were finally starting to gain on Kid and Maka, now only fifteen meters ahead. So, what did Kid do, now that they were both flying over the open water just a mile away from the beach?

Kid wrapped his arms tightly around Maka's center, tucked her head beneath his chin, and pulled his skateboard into a straight nose-dive towards the water below. They broke through and, while still underwater, began to swim in the direction they knew the shore was.

Later, when Maka accused Kid of being out of his "freaking mind", the shinigami explained everything this way:

He knew that the foxes were nothing but magic with the ability to hone in on a target and would probably try to follow Kid and Maka into the water, where the foxes would quickly be extinguished.

He didn't think that he and Maka could fall fast enough into the water unless they were propelled by Beelzebub. If the foxes got to them before the water did, Kid knew it would mean certain death for his friend.

Kid also knew that plunging so quickly into water would kill a human, but that all it would do to a shinigami would seriously bruise his skull. So, logically, if Kid hit the water first (which was why Maka's head was tucked under his) and Maka was immersed in it shortly afterwards, the girl would not smack directly against the water surface. Thus, both would be pretty much fine.

Kid really, really, didn't want Maka to die.

Of course, as the two technicians continued to swim as fast as humanly (and death godly) possible towards the shore, Kid knew that he had taken a lot of risks. Namely, Kid didn't know whether or not there were sharks, jellyfish, sea urchins, or barracudas in this area. Even worse, the foxes that plunged into the water would probably _boil_ the surrounding area and Kid didn't know exactly how fast he and Maka could swim away…nor did he know how much of the water would be boiled.

But, despite everything Kid didn't know, he knew it was the only way. So, he had taken the chance. And now Kid and Maka finally reached shallow waters and were crawling on to the beach while coughing and trying to catch their breath. They were sopping wet, shivering, shaken up by the near-death experience, and tired enough to take the longest nap in history. But, the two technicians were alive. The innocent fish, which had been swimming in what now appeared to be a gigantic geyser of hot steam about ten meters away, were not so lucky.

"Kid…" Maka gasped out when they were both safe sitting on a flat rock. "Are you out of your freaking _mind_?!" She spit some water out immediately afterwards.

It took a minute for Kid to catch his breath enough to explain it all to Maka. By the end of it, she still told him she thought he was crazy. But, this time at least, she said it while laughing and smiling. Maka was really just happy to be alive. Realizing how wet they were, she and Kid took off their coats. Kid carried one under each arm so that he wouldn't feel asymmetrical. Maka chuckled at this, but was happy to let him do as he liked. The shinigami had earned it, despite how reckless he'd been in doing so.

"I think we have a problem, Kid…" Maka sighed, wringing out one of her pigtails. "My map is in my coat pocket and my coat is soaked."

"Well, that is troublesome…" Kid admitted, rubbing the bruise that was starting to form on the back of his head from smacking the water. "I guess we'll have to look for a hotel or library to get another map, find out where we are, and find out where Central Park is so that we can meet up with Soul and the Thompsons."

Maka nodded.

"Right." She smiled weakly. "But, do we really have to walk?"

"Ah. Of course, not." Kid called Beelzebub, the now very drenched skateboard, and both kids hopped on before shooting off to find a proper hotel or library. Death the Kid made sure to fly a little higher than usual so that they'd have a better view. To their delight, the air whooshing past the two technicians helped dry them off, if only somewhat.

It wasn't long before Maka pointed down to the city below.

"Found a hotel! Let's just hope that they have city maps for us..."

Kid nodded in agreement before landing down in an alleyway off to the side of the hotel.

After getting a map, the two exhausted technicians began to fly for Central Park.

-----

"Jeez. What's taking them so long?" Soul muttered, looking at his watch. "It's already 1:30…And I'm getting hungry. Haven't even eaten lunch, yet…"

"Dunno~!" Patty giggled as she leaned back while sitting on the bench along with Soul and Liz.

There was a long silence before Liz turned to Soul.

"I think you should apologize." She said. It sounded as if she'd been thinking this for a while.

"To who? Kid? Naaah…" Soul shook his head.

"_No_, you idiot! I mean Maka!" Liz groaned. "It's because of you that she's so tired."

"Hey! It's sort've Patty's and your fault, too!" Soul reminded while Patty grinned.

"Ack. Well, we can't really control that." Liz sighed. "But, would it kill you to stop playing your videogames so late at night? God…"

"Well…" Soul rubbed the back of his head (where Kid's calling card from last night's fight remained). "I _guess_ I could apologize to her…"

"_And_ stop playing videogames?" Liz prompted.

"…_Well_…"

"Aw, come on, Soul! Don't you want Maka to stop being angry at you?" Liz asked.

Soul thought for a moment, then sighed and nodded.

"All right. Fine. Whatever. I guess I won't play for so long…"

"Good enough." Liz nodded and smiled at Patty while she returned the gesture.

It wasn't long before a familiar skateboard landed in front of Soul and the Thompsons.

"HIIII~!!!" Patty hopped up from the bench to greet them.

"Hey, Ki-…Uhh…" Liz blinked at the now soaked Kid and Maka as they hopped off of Beelzebub. They both had their coats off.

"What happened to _you_?" Soul pretty much read the question from Liz's mind.

"We found the witch." Both Kid and Maka deadpanned.

"She sent foxes of fire after us." Maka added.

"The only way to get rid of them was to dive-bomb into the ocean." Kid sighed.

"Which is why we're wet." They both finished.

"Oh…" Liz murmured.

"Well, _that_ explains it!" Patty laughed.

"Wait…You dive-bombed into the ocean with _Maka_?!" Soul's eyes were wide and he sounded like he was about to get angry.

"Ugh. I'm _fine_, Soul." Maka groaned. "Actually, Kid probably saved my life. I mean, if it hadn't been for his quick thinking…"

"No." Kid spoke. "I'm to blame for putting her in danger in the first place. When the witch released her soul protect, I was the one to suggest that we try to find her without weapons just to see what she looks like, so that she'd be easier to find in the future. But, she was expecting us and we were attacked. I did my best to protect her, but it was still my fault that she needed protection in the first place…I should never have held the mission priority over Maka."

"Kid…" Maka breathed, eyes wide. This guy was practically putting himself on the chopping block. Saying, to Soul's face, that he had (though unintentionally) put Maka's life at risk? Unthinkable.

As if responding, Kid turned to Maka and gave a nod.

"I apologize, Maka."

"It's…It's all right." Maka smiled weakly. "I really don't blame you, anyway. Now, we know what the witch looks like. And, with our weapons, we'll be ready."

Soul sighed, starting to cool down as he stood up from the bench.

"But, Maka…"

"I told you, _I'm fine_." Maka sighed before glancing over at Kid. "He made sure of that. Didn't you, Kid?" Her tone and expression told him she was thankful.

Kid nodded.

"I did my best." He said with a small smile before looking over at Liz and Patty, who'd been uncharacteristically quiet this whole time. "Something wrong, you two?"

"Oh! N-Nothing." Liz waved her hand dismissively. "Anyway, It's way past lunch time. Why don't we get a bite to eat?"

"Food! Heehee." Patty clearly agreed with Liz's suggestion.

"I'm all for that." Laughed Soul as he and the others began to walk.

Maka felt her stomach gurgle.

"That sounds good. Haha. It's difficult to notice how hungry you are when you're narrowly escaping a witch." She joked while Kid nodded weakly.

Soul did not laugh.

-----

Thanks to Liz's map, the five found a decent diner at which to stuff their faces.

Like Soul was doing.

"Jeez! Slow down, Soul, you're like a tornado!" Liz laughed. She held a hamburger a centimeter from her mouth and had a milkshake in her other hand ready for consumption.

"You suck everything up, but then stuff falls out from the sides~!" Patty chimed in, shoving a handful of fries into her mouth and promptly washing it all down with some root beer.

Soul swallowed a mouthful of chicken tenders.

"Hey! What'd you expect? If Kid and Maka hadn't come back so late, I would've eaten more than an hour ago!"

Kid chuckled, nibbling on a few fries. He was glad that everyone was all right and that the atmosphere had lightened up considerably since they'd all re-grouped. He was almost as glad that he and Maka were now completely dried off. Kid did not like to get wet, but it hadn't been so bad since he'd been _completely_ drenched. Which meant neither side had been drier than the other. Just the way Kid liked it.

Maka couldn't help but giggle as she took a sip from her own vanilla milkshake. Soul was indeed, hungrier than she'd ever seen him. She felt a little bad for sleeping in late. But, then again, it hadn't really been her fault.

Kid and Soul found themselves thinking that Maka's giggle was adorable. They both eradicated the thought on the spot. Even still, the fleeting notion lingered a bit for Kid to muse about.

After everyone was finished eating and were starting to eat ice cream for dessert, Soul looked over at Maka.

"Hey, Maka…I…I wanted to apologize for not letting you sleep a couple nights ago." Maka looked up as he continued to speak. "You needed your rest. I didn't need to play videogames so late. Sorry."

Maka smiled.

"I forgive you, Soul."

"So, tonight, I won't play videogames after ten o'clock." Soul nodded, deciding to make an agreement. "And you'll be able to get some sleep. Does that sound good?"

"Uh, well, actually…" Maka rubbed the back of her neck. "Kid and I were planning on sharing a room tonight."

You could have heard a feather hit the tile floor in the diner at that moment.

"Um…But, now you don't have to, right?" Soul prompted. "I mean, we'll be able to share a room because I won't play my videogames so late and you'll be able to get some rest…Right?"

"Well…" Maka began.

Kid could tell where this was going. Despite knowing that he was a very good friend of Maka's, he knew that her bond with her weapon was stronger than hers would ever be with the young shinigami. The only reason Maka had been more pleased to spend time talking to Kid lately was because she had been angry at Soul. But, Maka forgives easily (except, apparently, in the case of her father's womanizing) when others apologize. So, Kid was positive that, when given the choice between him and Soul, Maka would choose Soul. This saddened Death the Kid, strangely enough. He really did want to get to know Maka a little more. Kid wanted to talk to her, laugh with her, _be_ with her. The shinigami felt like Maka could understand him. Yet who did Maka spend most of her time with? Soul. Perhaps, in a way, Kid himself was jealous of Soul because of this. However, Kid had hoped that sharing a room with Maka would both give her the chance to get a good night's rest _and_ give him the chance to build up a stronger friendship with the female scythe technician…And maybe, something more…

But, with Soul having apologized, it looked like such hopes were about to be lost. And that was why Kid had begun to gaze dejectedly off to the side. His eyes were misty and his mouth in its usual frown. Only Liz appeared to notice this, however. And if Patty did, she certainly didn't show it.

"I think I'd rather share a room with Kid tonight." Maka finished.

And, once again, it was one of those moments where the world seemed to pause for emphasis. Despite the other diner customers pleasantly chattering away in the background, the five at the table in the back of the room felt like the earth had stopped turning.

All it took was a word from the death god to get things going again,

"R…Really?" He had turned so quickly to look at Maka that his head had been a blur.

Maka nodded and smiled at him. Kid returned the latter gesture.

"What?!" Soul flung his spoon carelessly into his half-melted ice cream. "Why?"

"Well…" Maka remembered Professor Stein mentioning that Kid's was a negative, sensitive, soul. How would he feel, she wondered, if she just canceled her plans to share a room with him in favor of Soul? That wouldn't be right. Maka did care about Kid's feelings. He was a close friend of hers. And she just hated the idea of holding one friend priority over another. So, she decided to speak very carefully. "Because Kid and I have already _made_ plans. You're too late, Soul. What? Do you expect me to just set Kid aside as soon as you become an option? No. I'm going to share a room with Kid tonight. And you can share a room with Liz and Patty." She glanced over at the Thompsons. "Would that be okay with you?"

Liz nodded slowly at Maka, looking a little surprised.

"Ye…Yeah." She blinked. "Sounds all right to me."

"Yaaaay~! Slumber party with Soul!" Patty laughed, leaning back in her seat.

Soul knew he was out-voted. So, he sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Fine. Whatever…"

"Um, Maka," Liz tugged at her friend's shirt sleeve. "Would it be okay if Patty and I talked to you in private for a second?"

"But, my ice-cream's going to-WAH!" Before she could protest further, Liz and Patty stood up and dragged Maka off with them to talk at another table on the other side of the diner.

"All right. Be honest. Maka, what do you think of Kid?" Liz asked quietly, now all business.

Maka took a moment to collect herself, analyze the question, and think of an answer. What she wound up saying was,

"He's, umm…Well, he's Kid, you know?" She shifted nervously.

"Yes. Yes, we've established that." Liz nodded rapidly. "Now, answer the question!"

Patty was staring wide-eyed at Maka, looking interested herself.

"Well…I think he's really nice…" Maka began. "And smart. And a great ally. I like how he's a well-mannered gentleman most of the time…when symmetry doesn't get in the way, I mean. And he's very hard-working and extremely brave, if a little reckless sometimes. Then again," She chuckled. "I guess I'm sort've reckless, too. Kid's really mature for the most part…except when it comes to symmetry, of course. But anyway, he knows how to work and fight on a team, even with people he doesn't like. Also, he's got an incredibly strong will, is very handsome, a little wise, is quick to apologize, and umm…" She now found herself blushing profusely at her own words before chirping out a quiet, "…That's all."

Liz and Patty seemed to stare at her for a moment before a grin spread across the elder sister's face. Maka did not like that grin – The grin said, "Mission accomplished".

"All right." Liz chuckled. "Meeting is adjourned."

And, with that, the three walked back over to where Kid and Soul were staring at each other with uncomfortable silence. Although, in Soul's case, it was more of a glare. For Kid, it was almost passive amusement. Liz told them to cut it out and the group left.

Maka's ice cream had melted before she could finish it. So, Kid told her they'd get some at the grocery store. Soul was soon steaming, but Maka couldn't imagine why.

-----

The rest of the day went pretty much uneventfully. Kid noted that he didn't expect the witch to show up again. Though clearly powerful, it was also obvious that such a witch preferred to remain discreet in her killings. She wasn't much for making a scene. In fact, her main purpose in sending her magic after Kid and Maka had probably been to scare them off if it failed to kill them. She was probably too spooked right now to release her soul protect and kill again. Because, after all, Kid and Maka had been the first meisters to ever catch sight of the elusive witch. And, in her eyes, that was probably enough to make them a strong threat.

After getting a few things (like ice cream for Maka) at the grocery store and scouring the city for any trace of evidence hinting at where the witch could possibly live (for she had to have a place to keep so many human souls), they had no information. At around eight o'clock, the Shibusen students decided to head back to the hotel.

But, as the five teenagers stood outside of rooms 84 and 85, Maka frowned.

"What's wrong, Soul? I didn't think you'd be _this_ upset…"

"Nothing!" Soul snapped, shooting a glare at Kid for good measure.

Maka sighed, deciding she'd maybe ask Kid about it later. Each group wished the other "goodnight", then Kid and Maka walked into room 84, while Soul and the Thompsons entered room 85.

-

At first, the atmosphere in Kid and Maka's room was very quiet. He was simply removing his jacket and shoes while she was doing the same. They each sat on their beds and then…They both realized that there was something terribly wrong. Mainly? Maka had carried her book with her. And, to appease his symmetry issues, Maka had elected to carry Kid's book as well before they left.

She had carried them in her coat pockets. Along with their map.

"Oh, _no_!" Both meisters gasped in horror as they simultaneously hopped out of their beds and sprinted to where Maka's coat now hung and reached in for their books. Indeed, what they soon held were masses of twisted and mangled paper with the ink in illegible smudges and splotches. The covers (both paper-back) were soggy, with the titles and authors almost as difficult to read as the text itself.

As if to make things worse, Maka's hand brushed against the cover of her book and half of the brittle paper got ripped off before falling hopelessly to the floor.

Maka's book cover. Was asymmetrical.

"Oh, _Maka_!" Kid exclaimed as if it were the end of the world, dropping his own book before sinking to his knees, burying his head in the crook of one arm and pounding the floor using the other. "I'm…I'm _so_ sorry! I'll replace it, I swear! Oh, God, this is _all_ my fault! I'm scum, a pig. I'm worthless, nothing, trash. Depression. Death…Let me die…I'm useless garbage – no, _less_ than garbage…Scum. Die…die…die…Let me die…"

For a moment, Maka had just stared in shock. Of course, she knew that this happened every time something asymmetrical popped into Kid's life. Especially when he blamed _himself_ for the destruction of symmetry. But, this time, Maka herself had to deal with it. And she wasn't entirely sure how.

So, deciding to model her technique after the Thompson sisters, Maka threw her ruined book to the side and dropped to her knees before beginning to pat Kid on the back.

"You're wrong, Kid! You're not trash or scum. You're really great! You saved my life, remember?"

"But, I only had to save your life because I put you in danger in the first place." Kid reminded without moving from his position on the floor, though he'd stopped pounding down with his fist. "So, it's my fault that we got wet and your book got messed up and it's not symmetrical, now. I should die."

"No, no, no, _no_!" Maka shook her head desperately, continuing to pat Kid on the back as she tried again. "I want you to live! You were just doing what was best for the mission, after all!"

"I should never have held the mission priority over you. Because I did, your book is ruined. I'm scum. I should…"

"_DAMNIT_, KID!" Maka finally snapped as she shifted over so that she was kneeling directly in front of Kid. "I don't care about that! I told you, I _forgive_ you. It's fine. I hardly blame you! You said you'd get me a new book, right? So, everything's fine! You shouldn't die. I think you're a great guy! I really like you!"

There was long pause.

Slowly, Kid looked up at Maka with a tear-soaked face while pointing at her book.

"H-…How could you like me, _now_? I've ruined the symmetry…I'm a worthless good-for-nothing." He absolutely sounded like he believed his own words.

"You're my friend, Kid! A really close friend…" Maka sighed, getting the feeling that she was trying to do more than just cheer him up. "And…you matter _more_ to me than symmetry or perfection or any of that crap!"

Now what Maka didn't understand was that, in Kid's mind, it wasn't just _he_ that cared about symmetry. _Everyone _did, in his own world. This was why he was constantly afraid that, if everything wasn't in perfect, symmetrical, neat and tidy shape, others would hate, resent, and abandon him. You see, he viewed himself as the future guardian of the world. And, if the future guardian of the world couldn't keep the natural symmetry intact, how could he possibly protect the world order when the time came for him to take his father's place? That was Kid's subconscious logic.

So, when Maka told him that she cared about Kid more than symmetry, well…To him, that was either the most wonderful compliment or the biggest blasphemy he'd ever heard. But, since this was Maka, Kid took it as the former.

There were perhaps 3.4 seconds of shock before Kid tackled Maka to the floor with a bone-crushing, death grip of a hug.

"Maka, do you _really_ mean it?!" He sounded happier than ever. "You care about me more than _symmetry_? Do I really deserve it?! Oh, Maka, you're _too_ kind! _Way_ too kind! It's incredible! I've never heard of anything like it!"

"Um…Kid…" Maka gasped out. The shinigami was definitely stronger than he looked and it was starting to have its effect on her rib cage.

Realizing this, Kid quickly loosened his grip and smiled hugely at Maka, his cheeks slightly pink and his eyes glimmering. It was the way, Maka realized, that Death the Kid usually looked at something perfectly symmetrical. And, for Maka Albarn, it was _extremely_ endearing to behold.

"Kid…Yeah. I mean it." Maka laughed after she finally caught her breath. She smiled back at her friend. "_Of course_, you're more important to me that symmetry."

Really, she thought that it went without saying. But, she supposed Kid liked symmetry a lot, so it was a shocker for him to hear this. Another shocker was when someone knocked on the door at that moment.

The result: Maka realized the position they were in – he on top of her with his arms around her in a hug, their faces a couple inches apart. A heavy red shade of blush covered everything from the neck and up for Maka. The pink already on the shinigami's cheeks started to spread a bit. Kid scrambled away from his friend and they both stood up, trying to regain their composure as they walked over to answer the door.

"Who is it?" Maka called out.

"It's me." Soul's voice came from outside the room.

Maka and Kid blinked at each other before the shinigami opened the door to see Soul standing outside and raising an eye brow at his friends' appearances.

"Something wrong, Soul?" Maka asked tensely, trying unsuccessfully to hide the blush…which was basically impossible.

"I…was just…coming to check on…" Soul trailed off before tilting his head to the side. "What have you two been-?"

"We don't _need_ a babysitter!" Maka cut him off sharply before reaching over and slamming the door shut.

All was quiet in the room for a few seconds. And then Death the Kid began to chuckle. These chuckles quickly formed into a loud, blissful fit of laughter. It was catchy and surprising, so Maka soon found herself guffawing right alongside him. Neither one was quite sure why the other was laughing. Maybe, it was because Maka's rebuke of Soul had been so out-of-the-blue? It could have been that their earlier positions finally had sunk in and they were both finding it all to be very silly. Or maybe they were both just so happy to be in each others' presence, alone with a chance to really get to know each other. After all, Kid pointed out as they sat on the same bed, there really wasn't anything else to do. With their books destroyed and neither T.V nor videogames of much interest to either one of the teens, they got to talking and eating the ice cream that Kid had bought at the grocery store.

Almost right away, Maka could tell that this was going to be a _very_ lovely night.

-

Soul did not share their feelings. He had remained standing in front of Kid and Maka's door for a moment and had heard the eruption of laughter from the other side. Grumbling, the scythe made his way back to the room with Liz and Patty.

"So, was everything all right?" asked Liz when Soul came in. "I could have sworn I heard what sounded like one of Kid's symmetry meltdowns…"

"They're _fine_!" Soul hissed in response.

Liz and Patty blinked at each other before looking over at Soul.

"Did Soul get _Maka-chopped_?" Patty giggled. She was promptly ignored.

"So, what happened?" Liz asked. She was painting her toenails as she spoke. "You seem pissed…"

"The door opened and they were _blushing_. I have no idea why. And then Maka slammed the door shut! I even heard laughing afterwards." Soul scowled. "But, if Kid's doing _anything_, I swear, I'm going to…"

"Heehee, Soul is jealous~! Soul is _jealous_~!" Patty teased in a sing-song voice.

"I am _not_ jealous of Kid!" Soul flopped on the bed that Liz was sitting on. "I just don't like that he's alone with Maka."

"Uh, yeah." Liz laughed. "Which sort've means you wish _you_ were alone with Maka. Even if you _did_ sort've screw up that chance the first night here…"

Soul sat up.

"No, it-"

"Whatever!" Liz groaned. "Anyway, don't worry about it. Kid's a dignified gentleman, for the most part. And he's definitely not a pervert. He wouldn't even _think_ about doing anything like that what you're afraid of with Maka. And she wouldn't think of it either, as we both know."

Soul was silent as he switched off the television and began to play videogames.

"Hey!" Patty protested from her bed with a pout. "I was _watching_ that." Looney Toons. It was Patty's second favorite show.

Soul was in a bad mood.

"Tough luck. It's my turn to use the T.V." He insisted as he pressed buttons and flicked joysticks on his controller. Patty fumed as she glared at Soul with evil thoughts in her mind.

Liz rubbed her forehead, deciding to settle down and continue her toenail art while sitting on the same bed as Soul. She could tell that this was going to be a long night…

It happened so fast. Hardly anyone knew what hit them. Patty basically attacked Soul in an animalistic rage and caused the controller to go flying through the air, barely being dodged by Liz, before it smash directly into the lamp on the nightstand.

"DAMNIT! You idiots! Something _else_ Kid's going to have to pay for…And _that_ was the light I was using to paint my toenails by!"

"Hey! Wasn't _my_ fault." Soul muttered, reaching over to retrieve the controller.

Patty started laughing as she hopped over and snatched said controller from Soul's reach before running around the area as Soul tried to steal it back from her. The cord twisted around the two of them until a loud, "OOF!" was heard along with a thump as the two lost their balance and fell to the floor in a tangled mess.

"Heh. Serves you two right…" Liz muttered, now trying to paint her toenails by the light of Soul's neglected videogame…

She wondered how Kid and Maka were doing. Judging by the answers Liz had gotten from the scythe meister a little earlier, she could imagine the two were getting along just swimmingly…

-

Kid and Maka had discussed plans for the mission while eating ice cream, but now that the sugary treat was gone, they felt the need to chat about something else.

Despite their books being ruined, Kid decided that said reading material would be a good subject to talk about.

"So, you're reading 'Great Expectations'?" Kid smiled as Maka gave him a surprised look. "I noticed the book on your nightstand when I was waiting for you to wake up this morning. That's all. How do you like it so far?"

Maka beamed at her friend as she lay on her back.

"It started off slowly, but it's getting really good. So many twists and surprises! I'm almost finished, just twenty pages or so left. Have you read it?"

Kid nodded.

"It had a lot of useful lessons in it. Like how being a good person and remaining loyal to those you care about is more important than social class or how wealthy you are."

Maka started to bob her head rapidly with Kid's words.

"Exactly! I've noticed that so far. And I really sympathize with Estella. She's really just been raised in such a horribly close-minded way…"

"To break men's hearts!" Kid finished for her, falling backwards to lay beside Maka. "I remember that. I felt sorry for Pip, though. He really seemed to love her…"

"I know. It's so sad. I like Pip! He seems like a very good person, despite some of his actions…" Maka sighed.

"Right. Just a little…_idealistic_." Kid seemed to pause for thought at this, staring off into space as his friend looked at him.

At first, Maka just blinked. Then, she laughed.

"Hey! I do that, too."

"Hm?" Kid snapped out of his trance to look at her. "Do what?"

"Make connections with the characters I read about." Maka answered with a smile. "Like you just did. You realized that you see the world in an idealistic way, too, right? Like how Pip, at the beginning, sees the upper class people as having perfect and happy lives while seeing the lower class people as all have horrible, sad lives. You think everything on earth should be in perfect order, even though it can't be that way."

Kid stared at Maka with shock for a moment before his gaze became downcast.

"I…" He frowned. "I guess you're right…" He sounded like there was something very sad about this. When it was said out loud, it was even more haunting than when he'd simply thought about it.

But, then Maka's eyes widened and she immediately regretted her words.

"Uh…Oh! But, you and Pip also have some really good things in common." And so she began a desperate attempt to bring Kid's spirits back up. "You're both really determined about improving yourselves. You're kind and considerate, as long as your r-respective idealisms don't get in the way, and…And, Kid! You've got a lot that Pip _doesn't_ have! I mean, you're mature, wise in your own way, genuine, respectful, a real gentleman, and…"

Kid held up a hand to signal for her to be stop.

"Why don't we talk about something else?" He was smiling slightly, even though he seemed to be not entirely there. As if he were still in deep thought about what Maka had said, despite wanting to change the subject.

Having begun to feel uncomfortable with what she'd been saying though, Maka was only too happy to comply.

"So…How's soul collection been going? How close are you to having Liz and Patty become death scythes?"

Kid sighed.

"We still need another ninety-nine kishin eggs as well as two witch souls."

"Oh! That's right. You have double the quota of the rest of us, don't you?" Maka recalled.

Kid nodded.

"It's not too bad, though. After all, the reason I began to work on creating my own weapons, even though I don't _have_ to, was because I wanted to earn it myself. I just felt that I had to become my very best, to meet Honorable Father's expectations. And, besides, the more effort I use, the more I feel like I deserve the results…"

Maka stared intently at Kid as she listened. Well, it was definitely true – Kid was very hard-working. As hard-working as Maka herself was. Then again, she had never really doubted that. It was just nice to have it confirmed by Kid's own words. And wait a minute, hadn't Kid just mentioned meeting his father's expectations? _Great expectations…_

"Ah, Maka?"

"Wh-What?" She stuttered out as she was tossed kicking and screaming back into reality by Kid speaking her name. Maka blushed when she realized that she'd still been gazing at her friend a short time after he'd finished speaking. However, Kid took the pink in her cheeks for embarrassment. "Uh, sorry. I think I spaced out a bit there…"

"Ah. That's all right." Kid nodded with a chuckle before sitting up on the bed. "Maybe you should get some rest, though, don't you think?"

"But, I'm not that tired…" Maka mumbled as she shifted nervously.

Kid tilted his head to the side.

"But…You're still not completely caught up on-"

"I want to get to know you a little more!" Maka blurted out impulsively. She knew that this might have seemed ludicrous. After all, both she and Kid lived in the same city, went to the same school…Heck, they even had the same classes together. And yet they almost never seemed to be able to talk to each other…Not so deeply, at least. The part of her that had blurted out was truly afraid that, if she didn't get to know Kid now, while she had the chance, they might never find time alone like this again.

Maybe, it was silly. But, that part of Maka didn't care whether it was silly or not.

For a moment, Kid actually looked stunned by how sudden Maka's outburst had been. But, then Kid's eyes seemed to light up and Maka saw him form the most beautifully genuine smile to ever grace his already attractive face.

"Then why don't we share a room again, tomorrow night? By then, you'll have gotten more sleep and we'll be able to talk longer…"

Maka's eyes became wide as possible.

"But, what about…"

"Soul?" Kid chuckled. "Don't worry about him. He's out-voted, after all…_Right?_" He gave her a meaningful look, one that held just a touch of something Maka couldn't quite decipher. But, it made her feel warm inside. So, she tossed on a smile to almost match the one that Kid was still wearing.

"Right!"

And with that, Kid carelessly flung himself on to the other bed, making Maka giggle. He smiled in response before sliding under the covers and grasping the lamp switch.

"Good night, Maka."

"G'night, Kid…" Maka yawned out as she crawled under her own covers, just now starting to feel the exhaustion come on. Today had been absolutely wild. In more ways than one.

After turning out the lights, Kid stared up at the ceiling and frowned slightly. He had no book and Maka needed her sleep. So, what would he do, now? Think, maybe? Yes, that would have to do. How could Maka just see one hint like that and be able to understand what he was thinking? Kid just emphasized one word, "idealistic" in a sentence, after all. And he himself wouldn't have even emphasized it, had people not told him repeatedly that "idealistic" was what his ideas were. But, Maka didn't seem to scold him for it. She just sounded like she was trying to understand it. Though at first, it had made him feel rather hopeless in his pursuit for complete world order, it now made him feel a little glad that Maka didn't seem to mind his apparently unrealistic world view. Kid definitely hoped to talk to her a little more. Yes, Soul would probably be upset the next day. But, he would just have to deal with it, Kid told himself. This was Maka's decision, after all. And besides, Soul would have plenty of time to hang out with her after the mission was over, to Kid's dismay. To be honest, it didn't really seem to Kid like Soul treated Maka very well. Yes, Soul _did_ do his best to protect her, but that was what partners were _supposed_ to do for each other. Kid knew _he_ would treat her with respect, understanding, genuine kindness, openness, and lo…

_Wait. __**What**__ was I just about to think? _Kid shook his head, deciding to drop the subject. It was making his emotions do somersaults.

Almost unconsciously, Kid glanced over at Maka, who was sleeping soundly. Good, he thought. She deserved it. For trying to get to know him and, earlier, for giving him the best compliment he'd ever heard.

After two more hours of contemplation, Kid finally decided to let himself fall fast asleep to dream about symmetry, "Great Expectations", the day's dealings with the fire witch, and even (this time) Maka Albarn.

-----

Soul had been delighted to find that he could play his videogames without any complaints after Liz and Patty finally went to sleep. Neither the videogame noises nor the light of the television screen seemed to disturb them at all. He wondered why.

When he finally decided to try and get some sleep at around four o'clock in the morning, his question was answered.

"Aggh…" Soul groaned as he flipped over on his stomach with the pillow over his head. "Damnit…How can that shinigami sleep through this!?!"

The Thompsons were probably able to sleep through _any_ noise because they themselves were noisier than anything else on earth. The only reason Soul didn't hear them earlier was because his videogame music had been blocking it out.

Liz constantly muttered and gasped seemingly random words in her sleep. She was apparently having nightmares. And, when that wasn't going on, Patty's snores seemed to turn the room into an isolated earthquake. It was unbearable. Soul swore to whatever gods that existed: He would never keep Maka awake for any reason, in any way, ever again.

Not even for the sake of being cool.

-----

A/N: WOW…That was the longest chapter of any story I've ever written. XD

In any case, I hope you all enjoyed it! As you can see, I tried to pack a lot of plot/action/character development/relationship development into it. :D Which was WHY it was so long. Okay. Thank you all for reading! I hope to update very soon.


	5. Final Confrontation, Final Contemplation

The Cure for the Nightmare

A/N: I seriously considered splitting this chapter in two. It's just SO LONG…But, I have been convinced otherwise. :3 If you thought the last chapter was huge, well...you're in for quite a read. ^^; So, here it is! The LAST chapter, actually! Both fluff and witch battle are sure to be included. Oh! And keep in mind that, with this chapter, I decided I'd try to be more descriptive at times. My style may differ a little. Let me know whether or not it still works. :) Oh, and I would like to note that this takes place after the kishin god is revived, but before the Arachnophobia arc. Based off of the manga, though you've probably guessed that by now. ^^ So, keep that in mind.

And another reply to my anonymous reviewer…

_To "K.": Haha, I make it a point to respond to every review, anon or not. ^^ I'm glad you liked Chapter 4! I can honestly say I worked particularly hard on that one. And it's okay that you're anon. Your reviews are still very much appreciated. :) _

_Well, I guess it feels like I'm a slow writer, to me, because I work almost literally non-stop on each chapter till it's done and sometimes it takes me three days. XD Which makes me feel like a slow writer. And, oh, thank you! I always worry that my muse will start to get tired and start failing me after a story goes on too long. Glad it hasn't, yet._

_Yes. We KidMaka fans all very much hope that Ohkubo will give us something to squeal like the insane fangirls we are about. XD_

_Agreed. Not too many of us out there. Heh. Although my story seems to be changing that. I now know of four people who have begun to like this pairing because of my story. :3 They know who they are. But, yes. I've never really liked the stories that have Kid acting that way. Love for symmetry should not automatically mean love for Maka. Stories that present it like that just never feel real, to me._

_:) Yes, I have seen that page you're talking about! It was very lovely. And I did see (though it wasn't as obvious as it was on the cover of manga chapter 54) a KidMaka *STARE* moment. :D …Unfortunately, though, I can't seem to find that picture again! I think the person who scanned it may have moved it or gotten rid of it. :/ Such a shame. Ohkubo seems to ship a little KidMaka on the side. XD Don't worry. You're not the only one who saw it that way. I have a friend who agrees with us both._

_Haha, that's all right! If you weren't anon, I'd probably be able to fangirl about this with you for days on end! XD But! This reply is getting long. It's filling up a page._

_And, as you can see, I am continuing. ^^ I hope you're happy with this chappie._

All right. Ready for the start of the story. :) I hope you all enjoy the LONGEST chapter so far! Because this really is the END of this little fic. :/ Oh. And…The T-rated language will really come up at some point in this chapter. And from a place you'd least expect it. XD Keep that in mind, young readers…

-

Chapter 5: Final Confrontation, Final Contemplation

Kid sat bolt upright from his sleep, breathing rapidly and in a cold sweat as he looked at the clock to see that it was now five o'clock in the morning. _That's strange._ He thought, wiping the moisture from his brow. _I wasn't having a nightmare or anything…_

Death the Kid's eyes wandered over to fall on Maka. Thankfully, she still lay sleeping under her bed covers peacefully, a small smile on her face. Kid couldn't help but feel himself calm down slightly and admire the nice view. But then, he shook his head and wiped a hand over his face.

_What is __**wrong**__ with me lately? _His thoughts were straying from the current issue, which was: Why had he woken up this way?

Kid remembered something like this happening a long time ago, when the shinigami was perhaps four years old. He'd awoken in the middle of the night for seemingly no reason at all. And he'd been shivering with fear at something he didn't know. He'd gone to look for his father and was terrified when the elder shinigami was nowhere to be found. But, eventually, father and son met up in the halls and Kid was informed that a kishin egg had drawn near to their home and that Shinigami-sama had destroyed it. What had probably woken Kid up were the beginnings of his shinigami soul perception alerting him to the pre-kishin. Sometimes, Honorable Father said, the soul perception could still kick in while a shinigami slept.

So, that was what Kid suspected had happened to wake him up, since this situation was practically identical to the one years ago. He immediately tuned in his soul perception. There was nothing. Nothing but human souls. And, yet…

Couldn't it be possible that Death the Kid's soul perception had picked up on the witch? It would explain why her soul might have blended in on his radar…

Kid was shocked out of his thought process as a flash of movement passed the corner of his eye and he whirled around to look out the window and see the familiar, red-haired, woman flying through the night on a broom stick.

Locking his target's soul in his perception, Death the Kid's first impulse was to wake Maka and everyone else up to go after the witch. But, then…He remembered how exhausted Maka probably was. And to wake her up again? And only to put her in even more danger since most of them would be chasing after a witch while _half-asleep_? What had Kid said, earlier…?

"_I should never have held the mission priority over Maka." That's right. __**I**__ said that, didn't I? Damnit…_

So, rather resignedly, Kid took the time to try and memorize the witch soul while he was still locked on to it. That way, at least, they would be able to find her again the next day _without_ having to rely on her releasing of Soul Protect.

After using what he thought had been decent effort mentally painting a permanent picture of the witch's disguised soul wavelength, Kid decided to lie down and go back to sleep.

"Hmm…" Morgan the witch droned as she flew through the night riding side-saddle on her broomstick. "So strange…I expected those children to come after me again once I released my soul protect." She mused suspiciously before relaxing a bit. "Maybe, my fiery pets really _did_ manage to do away with them. That would explain why I'm not being chased, right now."

The teens that she had spotted looking at her earlier were obviously Shibusen students. How could she tell? Because they were floating on a small flying machine of some sort and they were staring at _Morgan_. Now, to anyone else, Morgan looked pretty much normal. The only reason any stranger would have for staring at her would be because they knew she was a witch. And the fact that they were using some sort of supernaturally powered flying machine only proved that they were not your run-of-the-mill humans.

Nevertheless, Morgan decided that it would be all right to continue taking two souls per night, like usual. After all, those kids were most likely dead. And the weapons they'd most likely left behind were probably useless without their technicians. The fox witch would be safe as long as she continued her standard routine of releasing soul protect, killing a human, taking the soul, using soul protect, and jumping into a crowd of people.

Nevertheless, there had been something very…unusual about one of those that were obviously hunting her earlier that day. She couldn't see him clearly from a distance. But, he gave her a strange chill and she could almost swear that there were peculiar white markings in his otherwise raven hair…or maybe that was just the sun reflecting off of it?

Morgan decided she'd have to think about this. But, for now, she took mental inventory…498 souls left. Two souls per night on average meant…249 more nights left of having to do this. Less than a year left! Less than a year left until the witch would be able to see her beloved return to the living world. It had taken six or seven years, but she was finally close to getting all the ingredients she needed.

Ingredients for a spell that would reverse death itself.

-----

By the time eight o'clock rolled around, Soul was still wide awake. He literally had _not slept_. At all. Not even lightly. So, when the alarm clock went off, he literally plucked the thing off of the room's nightstand and threw it straight through the glass window. Something else for Kid to pay for. A car alarm was heard from down below along with someone cursing loudly and profanely enough to make Soul himself proud.

Or, at least, he _would_ have been proud, had he not felt like taping both Patty and Liz's mouths shut so that he could finally get some sleep. Maybe if he was lucky, Kid would let him sleep in, the way Maka had the previous morning.

Obviously, not. After half an hour, there was soon a loud knocking on the door.

"Liz, Patty, Soul, wake up! It's already 8:30! Chop-chop! I saw our target last night and I've memorized her soul wavelength! We'll get her today, I _promise_ you! Haha!" Even from the other side of the door, Kid sounded utterly fired up. Like he was ready to take on the Kishin god single-handedly. Heck, Soul half-expected Kid to follow Black Star's example and cry out, "YOHOO!" for good measure.

Around Soul, the Thompsons started to stir sleepily. Liz began to mutter in a drowsy drawl.

"Huh? What? Silly Kid. The alarm clock hasn't gone…" Liz trailed off as she blinked at where the alarm clock should have been. "Where the hell is the alarm clock?"

"Probably through the windshield of that nice Ferrari I saw in the parking lot." Soul deadpanned.

"Come on, guys! We've gotta _go_!" Maka sounded just as excited as Kid. "It's a miracle Kid's soul perception alerted him while he slept last night! It'll be even more of a miracle if he doesn't forget what the witch's soul looks like by the time you guys are ready to go!"

"All right, all right, already!" Soul groaned as he sat up and threw a pillow at Patty, who had still seemed like she was trying to sleep. The scythe joked dryly, "Wake up, you two. The drill sergeants are going to make us do push-ups if we take any longer."

On cue, a chorus of,

"We heard that!" rang out from the other side of the door.

"Haha, I hoped you two would." Soul grinned. It wasn't long before he and the Thompsons were ready to go. As they left their room, Maka glared at Soul.

"I'm going to give you a Maka-chop later." She threatened.

"Ha! Yeah, right. You don't have a-"

"And I'm going to buy Maka a dictionary today." Kid smirked evilly.

"…Shit." Soul had messed with a very crazy person and her wealthy shinigami friend. You couldn't be much more bone-headed than that.

-----

Unless you were Black Star.

"Shinigami-sama, _why_ won't you let the big me go help them hunt the witch?!" Black Star was confronting the headmaster of Shibusen. Spirit had apparently begun to whine at Professor Stein that his "poor, lovable, daughter Maka had been gone for _days_, staying at hotels, doing God knows what with two guys in her entourage". So, being the assassin Black Star was, he had listened in a little more and had found out all about this big "elusive witch" mission that was going on in New York City. And now Black Star wanted in on it.

What was a Shinigami-sama to do?

"Because you're too loud and noticeable." He bluntly answered the ninja's question. "Sorry~!"

"Ah! So, the big me is too much for this _little_ mission, right?"

"Ah…I never saaaid…"

"All right. Fine! I'll just go find some three-star mission, like…killing an army of kishin eggs. Yeah! That'll help make Tsubaki a death scythe! Yohoo!" Black Star turned and started to walk off. "Bye, Shinigami-sama!"

"Well, you actually aren't allowed to take those missions without permission, but…Umm…Bye!" Shinigami-sama tilted his head to the side and waved an overly large hand as the teal-haired idiot left the Death room.

Well, that had gone better than the shinigami had thought it would…

-----

After buying replacements for their ruined books (as well as another _special_ book used for Maka-chops…), Kid, Maka, and their weapons decided that it would be best to eat some breakfast before going after their target. You couldn't kill a witch on an empty stomach, as everyone knew. Kid was pretty sure he could keep her soul memorized anyway, so even he said it would be no problem.

So, there they were sitting at the diner for their third day of witch hunting, Patty and Soul eating waffles with syrup. Liz was forking ham into her mouth noisily while Maka ate hash-browns and Kid enjoyed his perfectly symmetrical pancake. And other customers were starting to wonder if those five peculiar kids would finally just leave. People had been starting to complain. The white-haired guy was usually rude to the waiters and waitresses. The handsome kid dressed in a suit would order for his food to be made "symmetrically" and would often complain if his food wasn't symmetrical enough. His record for sending it back was four plates in one meal. Even worse, peoples' teenage daughters would often try to flirt with him. They'd all go whining to their parents after being politely (yet painfully) rebuffed. The two similarly dressed girls were a bad influence on children, supposedly, because their navels showed. Plus, the shorter girl had a loud voice. The green-eyed girl hadn't been a problem, customers would say, except that she'd start shouting at the white-haired guy whenever _he_ was a problem. This caused many small children to cry.

The same result occurred when Maka would somewhat absent-mindedly glare at the girls who tried to flirt with Kid.

Interestingly enough, the five of them didn't really seem to notice the disruption they caused half of the time. It was as if most of it was just a daily routine for them that they'd gotten used to.

In any case, though, the customer complaints were all pretty much ignored. The handsome rich kid left 88$ in cash for every meal, no matter _how_ much money the overall cheap food was priced at. And they ate two meals at the diner per day. Great tips and customers like that were hard to come by.

"So, let me get this straight: Your soul perception activated in your _sleep_?" Soul sounded disbelieving.

"Yes." Kid shrugged, beginning to organize the syrups, ketchup packets, salts, and sugars on their tray so that they'd be symmetrical. "It doesn't happen often. But, it is indeed normal for a shinigami. I suppose we're just lucky it happened on this mission."

Maka nodded.

"_Really_ lucky! Finding the witch will be easy, now." She sounded excited.

Kid frowned.

"Although I'm not too certain how easy it will be to _fight_ the witch…" He sighed. "She seemed very powerful, yesterday."

"Yeah." Maka admitted. "But, I'm sure we'll be able to take her! We're such a great team, after all…"

"Right…" Kid nodded, smiling at Maka. But, then he snapped his fingers in realization. "Oh! That's right." He turned to Soul and the Thompsons. "Maka and I want to share a room again, tonight."

For the third time that week, time slowed and reality forgot what it was supposed to be.

"Why?" Soul asked rather anti-climactically.

"Well…" Maka spoke, rubbing the back of her head. She decided to be honest. "I…I _liked_ sharing a room with him yesterday. And I'd like to do so again. Plus, I want to get to know him a little more. That's all…"

Soul stared at her for a moment, unconsciously bending the fork he'd been using to eat waffles with. Something else for Kid to pay for. But, he sighed through gritted teeth,

"_Fine_."

"Soul…" Maka began, concerned.

"I _said_, 'fine'." Soul murmured quietly.

"Umm…" Liz stood up. "Emergency meeting!"

"Okaaaaay~!" Patty also rose, so they both jerked Maka up by the shoulders and dragged her off to the table at which they'd all been speaking privately the previous day. All the way on the other side of the room.

After Maka was allowed (forced) to sit down, she blinked at the Thompsons.

"What's going on? What's the emergency?" She asked.

"There isn't one!" Patty laughed.

"Ugh. Well, I guess it isn't an _emergency_, but…It could kind've be important." Liz sighed. "All right. Maka, is there something going on between you and Kid?"

"Uhh…Wh-What?!" Maka blinked. "You mean…" Then, she shook her head and blushed. "No. There's nothing like that going on."

Liz almost smirked, thinking that it was a little funny that someone so unaccustomed to "girl talk" had been able to understand what the question had meant.

"All right. Then, why is it you seem so much more eager to spend time with Kid even after Soul apologized?" Liz was non-confrontational, but her voice had a hint of urgency and suspicion in it. She thought that there was something going on. And, if there was, then she wanted to know what it was as soon as possible. Liz always had been curious about this sort of thing.

"Because I _live_ with Soul. I already know him really well. I hardly ever get to talk to Kid one-on-one." Maka shrugged.

"Ohhh…But, so…" Liz decided to try something. "Does that mean you're going to try to talk to _every_ person, one-on-one, at some point? Like…Black Star? Or Ox?"

Maka gave her an intent look. That was a rough question.

"Well…I've known Black Star since we were little. So, no. I know him pretty well, too." And she wouldn't want to talk to him for longer than five minutes and wouldn't be physically _capable_ to talk to him for more than ten. "And Ox…well, I know him enough." She smiled weakly. "Yeah. We're intelligent allies. Grudging respect. That's all there is between us. But, _Kid_…" Maka paused and got a misty, far-off look in her eyes. "He's sort've a mystery, compared to all of them. I mean, there's a lot about him I don't know. So, that's why I'd like to talk to him alone so that I can get to know him more. That's all."

Liz stared infra-red beams at Maka as she spoke, like she was waiting for the green-eyed girl to slip up and give something away. But, at the end of it, the elder sister sighed.

"All right, Maka. If you say so…" It wasn't that she was unhappy with the answers. It was more like she thought Maka was still hiding something. But, there was nothing she could do about it.

"Agh, I'm bored! Let's go baaaack!" Patty groaned, bouncing up and down in her seat. Realizing she didn't have anything else to try and ask, Liz agreed.

-

Meanwhile, Kid and Soul had been having their own conversation.

"So…" Soul began. "You and Maka seem like you're getting…_close_."

"…Closer than we have been, I suppose." Kid nodded calmly. "We've been getting to know each other. And we'd like to get to know each other a little more. That's all."

Soul tilted his head at Kid.

"That's…_all_? Is _that_ why you've been staring at each other? _Really?_"

Kid was now backed into a corner. If he answered, "yes", then that would be admitting he'd been staring at Maka. And Kid doubted Soul would believe that that was the reason, anyway. If he answered, "no", he would still be admitting that he'd been staring at Maka! And then he'd get more interrogation, to make things worse. And then, if Kid just told Soul that he _hadn't_ been staring at Maka, the scythe would interpret it as dodging the question. Which would make all _kinds_ of theories pop into that paranoid, over-protective, brain of Soul's.

So, Kid did what he was apparently starting to pick up from his father's skills. He changed the subject.

"By the way, I know about what happened to the _lamp_ in your hotel room."

Soul looked shocked for a moment.

"You…You heard it last night?"

"No, Liz whispered it in my ear on the way to this diner." Kid hissed. "Oh! And, thanks to the doors being practically hollow, I also heard about Liz wondering where the _alarm clock_ was. And I heard you saying something about it being through the _windshield_ of someone's _Ferrari_. Which would mean it would have to pass through a _hotel window_ first. Now, then, how many hotel-provided videogames have you been playing? Hm, about _fifteen hour's_ worth? I'd say that's a conservative estimate. Oh! And that fork you bent earlier. Let's not forget about _that_. Now, I wonder who's going to have to pay for all of-?"

"All right, all right, already!" Soul sighed. "I'll pay you back."

"Soul, we both know this routine by now. The day you pay me back is the day Maka kisses me full on the mouth." They both laughed at that one, though Kid unconsciously ended up sounding a tiny bit bitter about it if you listened carefully enough. Then, Kid got serious again. "You're lucky I'm so rich and generous, you know. Otherwise, I'd be collecting your soul as payment for your debts right about now..." He was half-joking, half-not. "I'm not expecting you to pay me back."

"_Thank you_, Kid." The scythe sighed with exasperation. He realized that his cross-examination would have to be set aside for when a huge debt _didn't _have the possibility of racking up numbers on Soul's tab for all eternity. Because that was what would happen, if Kid got pissed enough.

"You're welcome." Kid replied politely.

It wasn't long before Maka and the Thompsons came back over.

"Hey. So, what've you guys been talking about?" Liz asked casually.

"None of your-" Soul began, but was cut off.

"Soul's debts." Kid answered.

"Oh." Liz laughed. "Got it…"

"The _lamp_! Why the hell did you rat us out, Liz?" Soul asked.

"Oh, he would have found out anyway…" Liz shrugged.

"She's right. I would have." Kid grinned. "By the way, Maka, weren't you planning to…?"

"Oh! That's right. I almost forgot." Maka reached into one of the shopping bags situated near the table. What she took out was a brand new, four inch-thick dictionary that Kid had bought for her. "MAKA-CHOP!!!" The book spine landed down upon Soul's skull with a deafening "_THWACK_".

"OUCH! Shit! What was that for?" Soul growled after he'd recovered slightly, skull bleeding.

"For keeping me up with your videogames all night, three nights ago." Maka answered.

"But, I apolog-"

"Yeah, but you're still overdue the Maka-chop I would have given you _before_ you apologized. MAKA-CHOP!" Maka whacked him again. "And _that_ was for being the reason I lost my soul perception focus two days ago. Which counts as a second offense."

"YeeOW!" Soul held his still-bleeding head. "That hurt…"

"MAKA-CHOP!" Down the book came once again on Soul's battered skull. "That was for this morning, when you called Kid and I 'drill sergeants'."

Soul was now on the floor, unconscious. He would be fine, though. Maka and her other friends knew that. Kid actually had to stifle a chuckle or two at the scene. He thought that Maka was really an impressive sight to behold when she was angry. Probably because she'd never gotten angry at the young shinigami himself, though.

After a few minutes, the scythe woke up and the five of them finished off breakfast as if nothing had happened. Other customers at the diner were shocked and horrified by the scene, many of them taking their children and leaving because of the "bad influence" most of these kids had.

Apparently, the Shibusen students didn't notice, though, as they left to drop off the books at their hotel room. Maka asked Kid if he still had the target in his memory and he was glad to say he did. After further consideration, however, he decided that they would confront the witch at night. There would be a lower chance of having to deal with bystanders when the inevitable battle finally came.

This would be the last night for witch-hunting.

-

"So, that's her, huh?"

Those were Soul's quiet words as the three weapons and two technicians tried to blend in with the crowd in the late evening moonlight. A short distance of ten meters ahead of them was a woman with red, curly, hair reaching down to her mid-back. She was wearing casual attire, including a jean jacket, as she walked the sidewalk in the same inconspicuous manner as Kid and Maka had witnessed the first time they'd met her. Kid nodded at Soul.

"Yes. We'll follow her until she separates herself from the main crowd. That's probably when she will be collecting another soul." He answered, his voice low. The reason he knew this was because no one ever talked about _seeing_ someone burned to ashes. Which meant that the witch probably walked among people so that she became a common sight, welcomed among her community, but then she would hunt in secret and no one would ever suspect her of anything. To everyone, she probably just seemed like that quiet young lady who kept to herself and wouldn't hurt a fly. So, she was usually left alone.

After perhaps a half an hour of patient (as in Kid and Liz's case) and impatient (as in Maka, Patty, and Soul's case) walking, the Shibusen students finally watched the witch calmly diverge from the main street and duck into an alley.

"Let's go." Maka murmured.

"Wait." Kid held an arm out to stop her. "This seems too easy. It might be a trap."

"Well, if it's a trap, then we can probably still handle it." Liz shrugged.

"Maybe, Kid's right. We should use a sneak attack." Soul suggested.

Kid nodded, being sure to keep the witch in his perception.

"I think I remember how this part of the city's laid out. Follow me. There's a road we can use to cut the witch off." And, with that, he quickened his pace and the others followed suit. Not caring about the stares he got, he ran down the street, stepped around a corner, and took a side road. They ran for what felt like ten minutes, ducking into alleyways, taking all kinds of abandoned roads, until they finally turned one last corner and met face-to-face with the witch herself. Right as she was turning the key in the lock of what was probably her house's front door. In fact, Kid had timed it so perfectly, the woman gasped and took a step back in surprise. This was understandable – She was now an arm's length away from the kids. And they were now all alone in a low-populated part of the city where she'd decided to live for the past seven years.

"Liz! Patty!" Kid held his arms out at his sides.

"Right!"

"Okaaay~!"

The Thompsons transformed into guns and Kid caught them both at once, aiming them at the witch. At the same time, Maka spoke.

"Soul."

"Let's do this." Soul transformed into a scythe and was caught by Maka, who swung him around her arm once before turning to face the enemy.

"Witch." Kid spoke directly to the woman. "As punishment for the murder of roughly 4,500 humans and the stealing of their souls, we are here to take _your_ soul!"

"So, you two survived, huh? That doesn't surprise me. Oh, and just so you know, my name is Morgan." She laughed, regaining her composure. "Release Soul Protect." The woman whispered as a small, fiery, fox crawled out of her sleeve and sat on the palm of her hand. "Although what _does_ shock me is that you'd be stupid enough to attack me even _after_ barely getting away!" And, with that, Morgan sent the flame fox straight at Maka. The scythe-meister began to spin her weapon in a counter-clockwise fashion directly at the fire until it eventually was blown out like a candle light.

"Don't underestimate us, Morgan!" Maka warned, knowing the attack had been a weak one compared to what she and Kid had had to deal with the previous day.

Immediately, Kid opened fire at Morgan. The fox witch dodged the soul bullets by leaping up above the shinigami and landing on a roof top. By the time Kid had summoned his skateboard, Morgan had already called her own witch's broom. So, after Kid and Maka hopped on Beelzebub, a fast-paced chase began with the meisters in pursuit.

The moonlight cast eerie shadows across the faces of Death the Kid, Maka, and the witch as they flew above the city. Kid wondered how long the witch would let things go like this. He and Maka were prepared to chase Morgan to the ends of the earth and back. But, this witch seemed to have a set purpose in mind and she wouldn't want to waste time with Shibusen students. Why else would she so systematically collect all these souls and be so secretive about it? And it couldn't be that she just thought the extra human souls might come in handy. According to records, this witch hadn't been murdering _any_ humans until just seven years ago. So, what had triggered this killing spree?

Kid had the feeling he was going to find out. It wasn't long before Morgan pulled her broom in for a landing at a large park. With it being night time, there were no children around. A pretty fountain made of marble shined in the distance. It apparently operated at night as well, with water catching the moonlight as it flowed and shimmered. A play set occupied half of the space, with a green field filling the other half.

Kid and Maka touched down just four meters behind the witch.

"Finally decided to stop running, Morgan?" Kid spoke evenly.

The fox witch turned to face him with a smirk.

"I finally remembered what those lines in your hair are…You're a young shinigami, aren't you? The son of Shinigami-sama himself?" She chuckled.

Kid nodded, trying to ignore her mentioning his sanzu lines. He held his pistols ready.

Morgan seemed to be thinking for a moment.

"Oh! That's right. A shinigami's soul is worth 5,000 human human souls, isn't it? Listen, Child, you fancy yourself as the future guardian of the world, right? Well, if you'd like to protect innocent souls, you could always hand yourself over to me! Your soul would be more than enough to complete my spell! So, how about it? You could save a great deal of lives…"

After doing this, she murmured, "Zifox familiar…" A small, fiery, fox crawled from her jacket sleeve and ran off to the side to watch the scene. It looked as if it was waiting for something…

"That won't be necessary." Kid answered as he moved so fast, he seemed to disappear from his original position before reappearing behind Morgan. "We'll kill you here and now to save just as many lives!" He landed a strong kick at the back of her head. She fell forward, but caught herself and did a hand-spring to land back on her feet just in time to dodge a slash from Maka's scythe. Kid immediately fired at Morgan and she yelped in pain before stepping back to make some distance between herself and these two kids. All the while, the flame fox familiar she'd called earlier simply sat and watched the show.

"Fox storm!" The witch then sent a hail of small fire foxes straight at the shinigami. Maka ran in front of him, though, and twirled her scythe in a fan-like motion so that the magical fire diminished before it could hurt either one of them.

"Maka. She's a long-range fighter. Try to charge at her directly, while I cover you." Kid instructed, beginning to gun down the witch with a deadly accurate stream of shots.

Maka nodded.

"Right." And, with that, she charged forward and sliced at the witch. Morgan managed to shift her body, even while being fired at, so that the scythe simply hacked her arm off. She called her broom to her and hopped on before flying out of Kid's line of fire. The witch now sat recovering on her broom, high above the teens below. Blood seeped from where her arm had been, but witches were strong stuff and she knew about a potion that would heal this later. Kid summoned his skateboard to him, but he didn't get the chance to use it as Morgan brought her broom in closer to them and began to send another cascade of flaming foxes down at them. This time, there was even more fire.

Nevertheless, Maka spun her scythe above her and Kid's heads so that the fire was reduced. However, it was not completely wiped out and Maka soon let out a hiss as her shoulder suffered a nasty burn.

"Maka!" Kid and Soul both exclaimed with alarm. The shinigami was at her side, examining the burn.

"It's all right, Kid. We can fix it later." Maka assured him, smiling slightly as she straightened up. "Right now, we have a witch to deal with."

Reluctantly, Kid nodded. Trying to dress a burn in the middle of a battle would be nothing but suicide. And something about that seemingly docile fox of fire, still sitting off to the side, was beginning to seriously unnerve him…

"Poor children. You're fighting so hard, but you'll both only end up being added to my collection." Morgan sighed from eight meters above. She smirked. "Although, if the young shinigami were to give me _his_ soul, I could spare the girl he obviously cares so much about. How does _that_ sound?"

Kid then turned to look at the witch, choosing not to answer that question. It was _almost_ a tempting offer with how this was going.

"You just started collecting souls seven years ago. You must have a purpose. Otherwise, you wouldn't have so suddenly decided you needed more than 4,500 human souls. What are you planning to do? This reminds me of a spell I've heard of, that could bring the dead back to life…" He wanted to know if there was something serious going on. So many souls would have the potential to bring _anything_ back to life. Human, witch, monster, demon…Kid wanted to know if this was bigger than Morgan. If she was part of an organization or conspiracy of some sort…

The witch's smirk became a frown as she began to speak in a solemn tone.

"You're a very intelligent young shinigami, you know that? So, yes, I do plan to bring someone back to life. You see, a long time ago, I fell in love with a human. His name was Nicholai. And he loved me as well. We lived peacefully together for forty years. I never harmed a single creature. But, the poor dear grew old and caught an illness. My magic isn't of the healing type and I couldn't find the proper potion ingredients fast enough. I couldn't save him, so he died. That was about seven years ago. Ever since then, I've been working on the spell that would bring him back to life. But, it requires 5,000 human souls as sacrifice. So, that's why I've been collecting them all this time." She heaved a long sigh before turning to look at the meisters. "Don't you see? I don't like doing this, but I _loved_ Nicholai! Isn't it only natural that I'd want him back?"

"So sad…" Maka whispered, beginning to sympathize with the witch a bit. Morgan had probably been left inconsolable. She clearly would have done anything to bring her lover back. Morgan wasn't evil. Just brokenhearted.

"Any spell that requires the taking of so many human souls before their time is not worth the unnatural return of a soul that has met its inevitable fate." Kid stated coldly, staring up at the witch. "Death rules you all. And you have no right to reverse it by ending the lives of others."

_Ouch…_ That made Maka wince slightly, even if what Kid said _was_ true.

There was a harsh silence as Morgan narrowed her eyes at the young shinigami.  
"Oh, really?" Her tone was icy. "Well then, it seems that _death_ has chosen your friend for its _next_ victim!" And, with that chilling note, she swiftly gathered all her magical ability and threw a barrage of fiery foxes directly at Maka in one concentrated attack.

It all just happened so quickly.

A split second before the onslaught of magical fire, the flame fox that had been watching and waiting harmlessly off to the side for so long, finally sprinted forward and bit on to Soul before ripping him away from Maka's hands.

Soul let out a strangled shout from his scythe form,

"_Maka!_" His cry rang out simultaneously with that of another's, however. Death the Kid had realized what would happen as he saw Maka's scythe ripped away from her. In some freak burst of shinigami adrenaline, Kid flung himself between his friend and the witch's attack.

"Kid!" Maka gasped out just as the searing flames engulfed her friend. The female technician was safe in his shadow. After the flames diminished and the smoke cleared, a heavily burnt Death the Kid fell to the ground face-first. His pistols slipped through his fingers and clattered to the ground. "_KID!!!_" This time, Maka screeched.

"_God-damnit_, Kid!" Soul shouted in concern from his scythe form, still between the teeth of a fire fox.

As the Thompsons began to transform into their human shapes, Maka stumbled over to Kid and flipped him on his back to get a good look at him. His face, hands, everything, was pure scarlet. His eyes were rolled back into his skull and his clothes were riddled with scorch marks, some areas of material charred and looking brittle enough to flake off at any given moment.

While Liz and Patty had their own reactions, Maka felt numb as she checked the young death god's pulse. She heaved a heavy sigh of relief. It was weak, but, when it came to Kid, she knew that weak meant alive. He was just unconscious. And, as long as he was alive, she was sure that he'd heal. Maka couldn't count the stories she'd heard from Liz about this sort of thing happening, after all…Stories about Kid taking absolutely monstrous beatings that would easily kill a human in the same circumstances.

"Oh, poor, little, shinigami…" Morgan chuckled as she applauded mockingly. "He learned his lesson, though. But then again, I guess it's really _your_ fault, isn't it, little girl? I _was_ planning on killing the child quickly and painlessly after capturing him and taking him home. But, since you were here, he just _had_ to put himself in _so much_…"

"_SHUT-UP!_" Maka screamed, clasping her hands to her ears and shaking her head vigorously. She didn't want to hear this, right now. No. Right now, her only coherent thought was to send this bitch straight to Hell.

But, how would she do that? Without her scythe…

"_Patty!!!_" Liz whined desperately. "We have to get Kid to cool down!"

"There's a fountain over there!" Patty pointed. She did have her moments.

"Then, _quick_!" And, with that, they both lifted Kid into their arms and dragged him off to the fountain where they began to splash handfuls of water all over his face. Sometimes, they'd even dunk his head in quickly before pulling him out to resume dousing him with the cool water.

So, that meant they'd be no help at the moment. Here Maka was, facing the witch with her weapon in the jaws of a fiery fox monster. What would she do? Maka did the only think she _could_ do: She began to chase the fox that was holding her scythe captive. She chased it _all_ around the park area.

Morgan couldn't help but laugh at the whole scene. Despite not really enjoying the prospect of killing people, she felt it had to be done. And these two kids had gotten in her way. So, she would show absolutely no mercy and would, in fact, _play_ with her little enemies after what that shinigami had said to her. Shinigami-sama always was cold and calculating, in her mind. This child was hardly different, even though he _had_ made the effort to protect (what Morgan viewed as) his sweet-heart.

So, the witch toyed with Maka. From her spot five meters above the ground, she guided the little fox round and around the area while Maka chased it hopelessly.

Liz watched this and sighed.

"Patty, go over and help her, will you? I'll stay here with Kid."

"Okaaaay~!" Patty jumped up and ran off to help Maka chase the fox while Liz continued to splash water on Kid's face.

"Heeere, foxy-foxy! Heee-re…" Patty called out with a giggle as she helped Maka try and retrieve Soul.

"Agh! That's it." Soul spoke. "I think I'm gonna have to transform at this rate…This is getting nowhere!"

"No!" Maka called out. "Soul, if you do that, you'll get burned."

"How long do you think the witch is going to keep messing with you like this?" Soul asked to make a point.

But, before Maka could answer, Patty made a vicious dive for the scythe and managed to rip it away from the fox's jaws.

"WHOO! I _won_!" She laughed, waving Soul up in the air. It had probably felt like a game of 'Keep-Away' to her.

"Quick! Throw me to Maka!" Soul's voice sounded desperate.

"Okaaaay…" And so Patty threw the scythe over to Maka, who caught it easily.

"Thanks, Patty!"

"You're w-" Patty ducked as a fire fox headed her way. "WOW! That was close!" She ran over to Maka and mock-saluted. "Gonna go back to Big Sis and Kiddo, now!" And, with that, she skipped off.

Maka hardly heard a word of what Patty had just said. Right now, there was a witch to kill. And _now_ it was actually personal.

"Let's do this, Maka." Soul sounded ready.

"Right." Without another note of hesitation, Maka dashed off to her left over to the park's swing set. She knew that the witch was too high up right now for her to fight normally. And Kid was in no shape to summon Beelzebub. So, Maka would have to get some lift. Hooking Soul's blade over the top bar of the swing set, she swung herself up and over the bar before catching it and lifting herself to stand on top of the swing set. She was now that much closer to the witch's elevation.

Seeing this, Morgan began to try and drift away from the scythe meister. Kid had called it right. Close-range combat was not the witch's favorite practice, especially not when one of her arms was missing. So, she had to try and put some distance between herself and the female technician. But, it was too late. Before Morgan could get far, Maka leapt high into the air and hooked Soul over the broom handle to catch herself before she fell. Before the witch could react, Maka swung herself up and on to the broom stick in the same method as when she'd gotten on top of the swing set.

"Damn!" Morgan hollered as she turned to the new passenger. "Fox, zifox, vulpenes!" And she sent another fox of flame at Maka, who dodged it and slashed at the witch. Morgan ducked the attack and sweep-kicked Maka so that the female technician soon found herself clinging on to the broom by one hand. Apparently getting what she thought was a brilliant idea, Morgan began to rise higher from the ground on her broom stick. What was frightening was that she was taking Maka with her.

"Now, then, you poor little girl…I wonder how _gravity_ affects you?" Morgan snickered as she strolled across her broom handle to step roughly on Maka's hand. The girl winced, biting back the pain as she hung on for dear life. She tried, once again, to swing Soul up an on to the broomstick. But, Morgan wouldn't allow it. She kicked the scythe away with her free leg before it could make contact.

"Damnit!" Soul cursed, at a loss for what to do. They were now at least sixty feet off of the ground. If Maka fell _this_ far…

No. No, that _couldn't_ happen. No way. But, what could they do?

As it happened, someone was watching out for them.

-

While Maka and Soul had been dealing with _those_ problems, Liz and Patty had been dealing with their own.

"I hope Kid wakes up, soon…" Liz whimpered in concern as she continuously splashed water all over the young shinigami's face.

Patty, apparently leaving Kid's situation in Liz's hands, was watching Maka's actions.

"Wow! She's trying to climb on that swing set!" She laughed.

"_What_ is so funny?!" Liz asked rhetorically before she heard a low moan from her technician. "Kid! Are you okay?"

Kid shook himself to his senses for a minute before he looked up at Liz weakly.

"I'm alive, yes. '_Okay_'…? It depends: Liz, is my suit scorched symmetrically?" He was red as a cooked lobster and the first thing he thought about was his clothes.

Un-be-_lievable_.

"Uhhh…" Liz turned around to see that Maka was now hanging on the witch's broomstick by one hand. She turned back to Kid. "Y-Yeah! Yeah, you are scorched symmetrically! Funny thing that, hahaha." She laughed nervously. "Now, call Beelzebub. Maka needs your help! Right now!"

In ordinary circumstances, Kid would have been able to call Liz's lie on the spot. But, these were _not_ "ordinary circumstances".

"M-…Maka?!" Kid began to stand on unsteady legs. "Maka…Is she all right?" He sounded frantic.

Liz chewed her lip nervously as she glanced over her shoulder at Maka, who now had her hand being stepped on by the witch.

"She…She might not be, in a minute! Kid, we've gotta go!" Yes, she knew that Kid was in bad condition. But, he was a shinigami! Even if he couldn't fight so well, he could at least ride his skateboard and shoot…_right_? Whether he could or not, though, Liz knew that this was probably Maka's only hope.

Kid nodded sluggishly as he called his skateboard to him and stepped on.

"Liz. Patty."

"Ready to go!

Patty had finally tuned in.

"Okay~!" She transformed along with her sister.

Kid caught his pistols both at once, his hands stinging horribly at the feeling of metal to his now delicate flesh. But, he was beginning to regain his senses as he soared off on Beelzebub. Kid watched in horror as Maka desperately held on to the broom stick, her hand being stepped upon. When she tried to swing her scythe up and on to the broomstick, but had it kicked away…

Well, Kid just about lost it. As he flew in close, he began a fierce, rapid, fire at the witch. Each press of each trigger felt like a branding of hot iron to his pinky fingers, but he didn't care. That didn't matter, right now. Only _Maka_ did. Maka, who had expressed such a fervent intention to get to know him…Her life mattered more than any ounce of pain Kid was feeling.

Startled by the sudden onslaught of soul bullets, Morgan stepped away from Maka's hand and over to the other side of the broom to escape Kid's gunfire.

"Ha! Amazing!" The witch laughed as she dodged more bullets. "I knew you'd live, but I didn't think you'd get back up! You're _really_ something." But, then, she supposed that she'd be the same way if her beloved Nicholai were in Maka's position...

Except Maka _wasn't_ in that position anymore. While Kid had begun his attack, Maka had taken the chance to swing her scythe up and over the broomstick. She was now lifting herself back up to a standing position. Morgan was helpless against her, however. She had put herself into a situation where one kid was shooting at her and the other was probably about to slice her into splinters.

"Maka!" Kid called out, continuing to unleash Hell upon the fire witch while she dodged some soul bullets and was grazed by others.

"Right! Let's go, Soul!" Maka could worry about Kid later. Right now, she was just grateful for Kid's very existence. Extremely grateful. As in, "I think I owe you my life three times over" grateful. But, to repay him, Maka felt that the death of this witch would do nicely for now.

"_**SOUL RESONANCE!"**_ She and Soul cried out. Instantly, the scythe amplified in size and shined a bright blue. Maka began to swing Soul with all her strength at the enemy. "_Witch Hunter!_"

But, Morgan would not allow herself to be cut down so easily. That "Witch Hunter" attack was certain doom, no doubt. She couldn't even dodge an attack like that, with the shinigami's bullets impairing her movements. Now, _falling_...Well, that was perilous as well. But, at least Morgan had a better chance of surviving than she would after getting sliced by _that_ weapon. So, the witch did the only thing that she could do: She jumped backwards away from the "Witch Hunter" attack, away from her broom, away from Kid and his bullets.

But, the shinigami and his demon pistols were on the move. All three of them yelled out their own,

"_**SOUL RESONANCE!"**_ With his unnatural speed, Death the Kid hopped quickly over to the witch's broom. His foot touched down on the broomstick for barely a moment as his guns became cannons.

"5…4…" Said the sisters. He leaped over to where Morgan was falling. He landed down upon her, straddling her shoulders before jamming Liz and Patty directly into the witch's eye sockets.

"3…2…1."

"Ready to go!" Patty finished.

"…_Death Cannon." _

It was over.

Kid back-flipped over to his skateboard, expecting a "neat and tidy" finish. After all, the witch was now dead and her body was dropping lifelessly to the park below, its soul left floating in the air.

What Kid got was the closest thing to a shinigami heart-attack as the broom (devoid of its owner's magical control), that Maka had still been standing on, began to plummet to the ground. Without even wasting the time it would take to scream out the foulest curse word he'd ever heard Soul say, Kid nearly broke the sound-barrier plunging into a skateboard nose-dive after his dear friend.

Kid managed to catch one of Maka's gloved hands and pull her up and into his arms. He steadied his skateboard and set his friend down on the other end.

"Kid…" Maka sighed and shook her head. Again, she was having her ass saved by the shinigami. She hoped he wouldn't have to do this for her too often.

"Let's go get that witch soul." Kid said with a smile as he rose up back towards the floating witch soul. Maka grasped it in her hand with a sigh of relief.

"I guess we did it, huh, Kid?" She looked at him.

Kid nodded.

"It was difficult and I now feel like I have one _horrible_ sunburn, but…Mission mostly accomplished."

"Hm?" Maka blinked. "'Mostly'?"

"All those human souls the witch took…She's probably storing them somewhere." Kid frowned thoughtfully. "I need to collect them, unless we want a New York City overrun by ghosts. And I'm guessing that Morgan was probably keeping them wherever she lived…"

"So, that would be the house we saw her trying to open the door of. Right?" Maka recalled.

Kid nodded.

"Exactly right."

"But, wait…So, that means we have to break into her _house_?" Maka was alarmed. "Wh…What if we get caught? What if she has an alarm? What if someone _else_ lives with her?"

Kid nodded once again.

"It's just what we have to do, no matter what. Those souls need to be brought to a proper resting place. It's my duty as a shinigami. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if this was another reason Honorable Father sent me with you on this mission."

Maka nodded slowly.

"I guess you're right."

"But, before we do that…" Kid pointed at the burn that was still on Maka's shoulder. "We'll have to get _that_ treated." Not only did it ruin Maka's symmetry, it also looked very painful for a mortal to have to deal with. And Kid was worried that it would get infected, somehow.

Maka agreed with Kid, trying not to think about her shoulder.

"We should find the souls tomorrow, though. I could use some sleep." She sighed. Kid gave his silent consent.

They soon landed Beelzebub down into the park below.

"You deserve this one, Kid. You _really_ do." Maka said with a genuine smile as she handed him the witch soul. He seemed to be all right, even if he had scared Maka half to death with that stunt of his. He just seemed to have a really bad sunburn. She would find a way to truly thank him later.

"Thank you, Maka." Kid took the soul with a nod after the Thompsons transformed back into their human forms. "You have only forty-nine kishin eggs right now, right, Patty?"

Patty nodded as she transformed into a gun and was caught by Liz. Kid tossed the witch soul over and it was consumed by Patty's ammo magazine before she became her human self again.

"We're half-way there!" Liz said, high-fiving her sister.

"Indeed." Kid smiled. "Ninety-nine kishin eggs and one witch soul left before you two become death scythes. It will truly be a momentous occasion."

Soul transformed into his human form and grinned.

"Ha. If you only had one weapon, you'd have a death scythe right now, Kid."

Kid nodded.

"True. But, I like using these two. I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Aww…Neither would we, Kid!" Liz and Patty tackled him in a hug before they turned to start talking to Soul and give each other compliments on their performance as weapons.

But, then disaster struck. Fire is not good for clothes. And Kid's already brittle jacket had crunched under the pressure of Liz and Patty's hugs. A few bits of fabric began to flake off with audible crackles. Kid looked down at his suit and saw, to his extreme terror, that it had been ruined by the fire.

More to the point: It was asymmetrical.

"_Damn_ it all!" Kid suddenly crumpled in on himself and fell to his knees after fully examining his clothes. He raised a fist and began to punch into the grass and soil around him. Maka walked over to Kid while he continued to rant. "My clothes. All these scorch marks and soot stains! The symmetry is broken. I'm a pig! Worthless scum, that's all I am! I should just die. Die! That's what I should-"

A deafening _"CRACK"_ rang out at that moment, cutting the shinigami off mid-sentence and startling the weapons into turning to see what was going on. The noise was shortly followed by a second, identical, sound.

Standing before Kid was Maka. Her eyes were filled with fury and indignation. A maroon welt had been left on each of Kid's cheeks where she'd smacked him with all her might. Because of his burns, the pain was even more intense. After recoiling for the second time, Kid raised his head slowly, to stare up at her with a wide-eyed, shocked, expression. The expression silently pleaded, _"Why, Maka?"_

"_Damnit_, Kid!" Maka suddenly screamed before gripping Kid's shirt collar and pulling him up to look into her eyes so that their noses were almost touching. Tears were starting to form in Maka's deep olive green eyes. "What? Are you _crazy_?! You saved my _life_, for God's sake! _**FOUR TIMES! **_You put yourself through _Hell_ to do it the second time! Don't you _dare_ call yourself 'scum' in front of me! What?! Was my life saved by _scum_?! Kid, you're _amazing_! Everything _about_ you i-…is _amazing_, damnit! Why the _hell_ would you call yourself anything less than that?!"

Kid stared up at her, absolutely speechless. He didn't even look like he was trying to form words, the whole thing was just so stunning to behold. Soul, Liz, and Patty spoke about as much as Kid.

Maka suddenly sank to her knees, dragging Kid back down with her. Tears were finally raining down from her eyes as she struggled to continue speaking.

"It's…It's not r-_right_ that you give more value to a…to a symmetrical _suit_ than yourself, Kid! Damnit. I know you can't h-help it, but, but…I _care_ about you! It hurts me that _you_ don't care about y-yourself like you should and you don't even sound like you're _joking_ when you talk about being garbage and dying and everything! It just…It just seems so…" She choked this all out, but never finished. Before she could realize it, Kid had his arms around her in a warm, gentle, hug. It hurt his burnt skin like hell, but he really didn't give a damn at the moment.

"K-Kid…" Maka gasped out in surprise. This was actually the first time she'd been deliberately held so close by any guy but her own father. Soul, the other man close to Maka in her life, really wasn't much for "touchy-feely" stuff. Although, he _had_ hugged Black Star before…but, they were both guys and that was a spur-of-the-moment thing. Otherwise, though, it just wasn't _cool_…But, Kid didn't seem to care. And that was nice.

"Heh. Maka." Kid whispered affectionately in her ear. "I think you're as crazy as me."

Maka began to chuckle, even as tears continued to fall. She slowly wrapped her own arms around Kid, bowed her head, and started using his chest as both a pillow to hide her laughter and a tissue to dry her tears. Kid reached over and tilted her chin up before giving her a kiss directly on the center of her forehead and smiling at her, a gesture which Maka returned. His lips had felt hot on her forehead. Apparently, _every_ part of Kid had been torched. Still, Maka didn't mind. Kid let go of her chin to pull her closer to him. She resumed laughing and crying on his jacket. Though they hadn't started that way, what she now shed were tears of joy. And she wasn't quite sure why.

For the moment, it didn't seem to matter that only _half_ of Kid's tattered jacket was being cried on. He would fuss about it later, they both knew. But for now, that obsession took a back-seat to the beginnings of something _similar_ to a new obsession…but, not quite.

Liz smiled hugely while Patty giggled. With just one look, Soul could tell that Maka was exactly where she wanted to be. Probably where she was happier than she'd ever been, actually. It wasn't with Soul, maybe. But, looking at Maka and looking at Kid…Soul couldn't find it in himself to be angry seeing his technician's apparent bliss. What mattered was that she was happy. And, if Kid was the one to make her feel that way, then Soul realized he had no right to separate them. Ha. Separate _those_ two? As if anyone _could_ without getting their head ripped off on the spot by Maka or the shinigami.

They sat this way for at least ten minutes before their embrace ended and the two stood up to face each other. Suddenly, Kid stifled a chuckle as a look of realization crossed through his eyes.

Maka blinked.

"Hm?"

That was enough to cause Kid to start laughing as if he'd lost his mind, before grinning at a very perplexed Maka.

"I just noticed – you slapped me _symmetrically_!" And, in fact, he was right. One dark red mark now stained each cheek where Maka had struck. But, the point was this: Kid had _just noticed_.

For a moment, Maka just stared back at Kid with a blank look. Then, her lips twitched upwards, a giggle escaping. Soon, that small chortle was replaced as she began to howl with laughter along with Kid. In this way, Kid, Maka, Soul, Liz, and Patty, contentedly began to leave the park. The shinigami didn't complain about his clothing along the way. Not even once. It was difficult to complain when you were laughing so relentlessly you could hardly breathe.

Kid and Maka eventually calmed down as they neared a pharmacy. Realizing that a bright crimson Death the Kid and Maka with a horrible, exposed, burn on her shoulder would probably draw _way_ more attention than need be, Soul and the Thompsons decided to enter the pharmacy alone to get some burn salve and bandages. Kid would probably heal on his own well enough (any bacteria that infect his burns would be instantly killed by biologically superior white blood cells), but some ointment would help to relieve the pain he was going to be feeling for a while. Maka was really the one who needed her burn to be dressed, though.

So, there Kid and Maka were standing across the street from the pharmacy, chatting away.

"So…Does your skin really just feel sunburnt?" Maka asked.

"_Very_ sunburnt." Kid sighed, rolling up his sleeve to take a look at his now bright red arm. "_Every_ inch of my skin, right now, apparently. But, at least it's symmetrical." He shrugged, glad that Maka's tears on the left side of his jacket had now dried. Even if Kid's clothes were ruined, he could at least tell himself that the scorch marks and soot stains made some kind of alternate method of symmetry.

Maka winced, hating the idea of how her own shoulder burn would feel spread across the rest of her body.

"Why? Why did you put yourself in that kind of danger for me?" She asked, taking a step closer to Kid to look into his eyes and examine his horribly reddened skin.

Kid rubbed the back of his neck with a flinch. He would have to try not to apply pressure to his own flesh too much, he realized. It would be painful if he did. The death god was already forming blisters on his pinkies from the time he'd been using them to fire incessantly at the witch. With a sigh, Kid looked at Maka and answered,

"Because I'm a shinigami. I knew I'd have a better chance against that much fire than you would. And I…I would hate to lose you. I'd blame myself."

Maka kept her gaze on his eyes as she spoke.

"You're really very selfless…aren't you?"

Kid shrugged and shook his head modestly.

"It's my duty as future guardian of the world. My Honorable Father is the same way."

"You say that, but…" Maka smiled up at him. "Protecting others is really just something that you and your father would do, duty or not…Right? It's just in your nature…I can tell."

Kid looked intently at Maka as she spoke. He'd been moving unconsciously closer to her the entire time and they were now standing so that their foreheads were close to touching.

"I…I guess that's true." He admitted quietly, not used to that aspect of his being pointed out like this. Normally, it was just "Intelligent Kid", "Powerful Kid", "Polite Kid", and "Handsome Kid". Or, when people didn't feel like praising him, "Symmetry-Obsessed Kid". It was rare for someone to actually compliment him on his deeper personality. Maka had been the first to do so. Then again, she had also been the first to make an assertive effort to get to know the young shinigami. So, Kid smiled genuinely. "Thank you, Maka."

Maka felt her cheeks color as she realized how close their faces were.

"…Y-You're welcome!" She stuttered out, looking away to hide her expression. _Why am I acting this way, right now?_ The girl wondered._ Like some sort of…ditzy school girl…I mean, I know that Kid has this effect on other girls at Shibusen, but it's never seemed to get to __**me**__ before…Maybe, I'm…Maybe, I'm actually starting to…_

"Hey, Kids! You got any change…?" rasped a voice from behind Maka.

And the moment was ruined.

Maka spun around to see a man wearing old and tattered clothing, holding out a tin can with a few nickels in it. After taking one look at Maka, though, the man grinned.

"On second thought, how much would a night with _you_ cost, Girly?" He snickered lecherously.

It took everything Kid had in his soul to keep from gagging and stomping this man into the ground then and there. Before Maka could respond, Kid stepped between her and this repulsive stranger.

"You want money, right?" Kid snarled, reaching into his pocket and pulling out four twenty-dollar bills before fishing for eight dollar bills. Eighty-eight dollars. He shoved the money towards the man. "Take it. Please, take it, leave my friend alone, and buy some food for yourself as well as some clean, symmetrical, clothing." Or booze. Or drugs. Or a prostitute. Kid _really_ didn't care at that moment. As long as this person was not here for more than three more seconds, that would be enough for the shinigami.

It took longer than three seconds.

"What? Is she _your_ girl or something?" The man asked after taking the money and shoving it in the folds of his clothes.

Kid shook his head slowly. _Must…not…kill…possibly innocent person…_

"Go away, _please_." He tried to keep his tone sounding cool, but ended up tinting it with a hint of exasperation.

Maka nodded.

"We'd like to be alone, right now…" She was frowning as she tried to be as courteous as Kid was. If she had her dictionary with her, right now, being polite would become increasingly difficult.

"Oh, so you two _are_ a couple." And, without another word, the obnoxious man walked away.

Once he was gone, Kid looked at Maka.

"Did…that come out right?" He chuckled.

Maka shrugged, avoiding Kid's gaze.

"I don't see why it wouldn't have…" Okay, so she'd said that she and Kid wanted to be alone. It had mostly been said that way so that the creepy stranger would leave them to their own devices…right?

Okay, so…Lately, Maka _had_ wanted to be alone with Kid, when she thought about it. For some reason, she'd begun to feel very comfortable just being in his presence. Maybe, it was because she didn't have to keep an encyclopedia or dictionary at hand or feel her temper rising with every second, like she did while listening to just about everything Soul said? Or maybe it was because she didn't have to try and engage in "girl talk" like she did with the Thompsons. She didn't feel the need to smack her head against the wall repeatedly, like she did while dealing with Black Star. And didn't find herself feeling exasperated towards Tsubaki's lack of ability to stand up for herself and speak her mind. Kid was a great guy who expressed his opinions honestly. Maka could have good, deep, civil, conversations with him. What was most important, she could be herself and it would please him just fine.

Being with him felt…uplifting.

"Oh. All right." Kid smiled slightly at her, deciding not to pry, despite how awkward Maka's words had sounded. Kid focused on other things, like the burns that covered his body. He felt his skin starting to heal more quickly than a mortal's would. And now he was definitely becoming aware of blisters where his clothes rubbed most. That was the one issue with rapid shinigami healing and burns. Despite healing at a faster pace than a normal human, he still healed with the same process. And blisters were part of the healing process, when it came to heavy burns and friction.

Kid decided that, when he got to the hotel room, he would take a nice, cold, shower. Before getting his face covered with burn salve, of course.

Speaking of burn salve, Soul, Liz, and Patty were soon seen walking out of the pharmacy and across the street. They were bickering and carrying a couple plastic bags the whole way.

"Patty, you _cannot_ make giraffes out of items that you have not bought!" Liz was asserting strongly.

"Awww…But, those birthday cards fit together so _perfectly_!" Patty whined.

"Ugh. Sounds like Kid's starting to rub off on her." Soul groaned as they finally made it over to Kid and Maka. The two meisters pretended that they hadn't heard him.

"Well, let's go, I guess." Maka sighed, taking the two small grocery bags from Liz.

Kid called Beelzebub. Soul, Patty, and Liz transformed to be caught by their technicians before Maka and Kid rocketed off into the sky on the skateboard.

It was time to make it back to the hotel for some well-deserved rest.

…

Er…_Almost_.

A blue-haired ninja stood atop an insanely tall building just a block away from the pharmacy and shouted into the sky.

"**I am looking for a witch!" **He proclaimed proudly to the entire world. "If anyone sees one, please let me – the _GREAT_ and _POWERFUL_ Black Star – know right away!"

From their spot on Kid's skateboard, Kid and Maka glared at the side of Black Star's head.

"That idiot." Maka hissed.

"I should have known he'd come here." Kid facepalmed as he glided over to the roof top Black Star was standing on. Tsubaki, who was standing at Black Star's side, turned to see Kid, Maka, and their weapons. Tsubaki quickly began to shake Black Star's shoulder.

"Umm…B-Black Star…"

The ninja continued to yell like the moron he was.

"And, if no one has seen a witch, I am also looking for my friends! One of them is a dirty-blonde haired girl with a really bad temper! There's a guy with white hair and red eyes, too. And two girls who look alike, except one of them has bigger breasts than the other! And then there's a black-haired guy with lines in his…"

"BLACK STAR, YOU IDIOT!" Kid and Maka roared.

"I'm really sorry." Tsubaki apologized while Black Star turned to look at them. He grinned.

"There you guys are! Hey, wait…" He looked over at Kid. "Why are you so red?"

Normally, it would have been because Kid was righteously pissed off at Black Star. But, of course, there was a different reason this time.

"I got burned by the witch when we were fighting her. You're _too late_, Black Star." Kid said sadistically.

Maka nodded and pointed at her shoulder.

"Me, too. We've defeated her without you."

"WHAT?! Why the _hell_ did you do that?!" Black Star whined.

"I'm starting to think I should carry dictionaries with me twenty-four hours a day." Maka confided to Kid while ignoring Black Star. Kid nodded in agreement with her.

"I…I'm really sorry! I tried to stop him, but…" Tsubaki sighed. "Well, you know."

Soul shrugged as he transformed into his human form.

"Well, the witch is gone, anyway. It shouldn't be much trouble if we all just stay at the hotel till tomorrow. Right?"

Kid sighed.

"I suppose not. We do have an end to tie up tomorrow, anyway…So, Black Star might have some use." "_Might_", was the operative word. As long as he doesn't make too much of an ass of himself, Kid wanted to say, but didn't.

"YOHOO!" Black Star jumped up into the air and grinned. "I knew you would need the help of Big Me!"

Kid facepalmed again. They really didn't _need_ Black Star's help for this. But, since he was there…Kid supposed they really had no choice.

The teens established that the room assignments would be as follows: Kid and Maka, Soul and Black Star, Tsubaki and the Thompsons. They would have to book _another_ room, Kid realized with dread. He hoped that one would be open on the same floor. But, then he realized that there was another issue.

"Uh, Black Star? Think you can just sort've…_run_ to the hotel and meet us there if we give you and Tsubaki the address?" Maka read Kid's mind out loud. Three people on a skateboard just didn't work. _Especially_ if one of them was Black Star.

"Sure! One of you guys have a map?" The ninja asked.

Liz and Patty transformed into their human bodies before the older sister handed Tsubaki a map and told her the address. The chain-scythe weapon nodded and it wasn't long before the ninjas were running off to find the hotel. They'd jumped off the roof, apparently. This earned them many stares from those few who happened to be taking a walk this night.

"All right. Let's get going." Kid hopped back on to Beelzebub as the weapons transformed again. Maka nodded before hopping on as well.

But, first, Kid had to pick up a change of clothes for himself to wear this night and the next day. Asymmetrical clothing would not do. But, while his suits may have been custom-made, he was still perfectly happy with a red shirt, basic black jacket, and a pair of black slacks. That was what he usually liked to wear on the most casual occasions and it was an outfit that was very easy to compile at just about any store.

_Then_, they headed over to meet Black Star at the hotel. He'd beaten them there, with Tsubaki's help reading the map.

-----

And there they were, once again, standing in front of the three hotel rooms now reserved. Apparently, Soul's loud videogames had begun to ward off business on that floor. So, the teens were the only ones that had rooms on Floor 8. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Kid almost had the rooms changed to 86, 87, and 88 (guess which room _he_ wanted), but Maka reminded him that all their food and groceries were still in rooms 84 and 85. And she managed to convince him that the door to room 84 (where he and she would be sleeping) was at the exact middle of floor 8's hallway. This was no small task.

The seven teens, after wishing each other "goodnight", walked into their assigned rooms.

-

"I'm going to take a shower, all right, Maka?" Kid spoke as he took off his asymmetrical jacket and tossed it into the garbage can.

"That's fine, Kid!" Maka nodded while she took off her own coat. "I need to dress this burn, anyway." And, considering it was on her shoulder, she'd rather not take her shirt off with Kid in the room. Even though she was wearing a bra and she knew he wouldn't look, anyway.

Kid nodded in agreement.

"And you should wash the burn before you do that. I believe we have some bottled water in the fridge. Help yourself."

"Okay, will do." Maka headed over to the tiny corner kitchen that had come with their hotel room. It included a small refrigerator, a cheap microwave, and a small supply of coffee mugs. For a hotel, this really was pretty nice. Especially, in Kid's opinion, when you took into account the mostly symmetrical rooms. Maka took a bottle of water out of the fridge while she heard the bathroom door open and close behind her. She gathered the burn salve, bandages, and a towel before she sat down on her bed, checked to make sure the blinds were closed (they were), and carefully took off her vest, then her cotton shirt and tie. Maka poured the cool water all over her burn. It stung at first, but then felt a lot better. She quickly dried the water before it could drip down her arm and all over her bed covers. Maka then examined her burn. It was bright red, probably a second-degree burn. But, she couldn't be sure. She was no expert on this sort of thing. The best she was able to do was just spread some of the burn salve over her injury. Which stung horribly at first before her nerves were flooded with a short-term relief. The bandages turned out to be more difficult, but she did her best. And she even managed to carefully slip into her cotton shirt without disturbing the rather sloppily wrapped bandages. It was time to get back to reading, "Great Expectations".

Kid, meanwhile, was in a Hell of his own. He knew that he had felt what no other human had – He had been torched by thousand-degree flames and _lived_.

And now, he was paying the price.

"Damn, damn, damn, damn…" Kid murmured repeatedly while standing at the exact center of the tub as freezing cold water pelted his raw skin from above. At least, though, his numerous blisters were now exposed to the air and not being tortured by his own clothing rubbing against burn and blister alike. Of course, even standing up was painful now, with the blisters and sores forming on Kid's feat. _Why is the __**healing**__ so much more painful than the __**burning**__?_ He wondered at the irony as he attempted miserably to dry himself off with his towel after stepping out of the shower. The towel felt like steel wool and, as he gently put on his change of clothes, Kid wondered whether or not he'd be able to sleep that night. Heck, he wondered whether or not he'd be able to lie down at all!

Kid just hoped that his blisters would start to disappear by the time he was ready to go to sleep. That was the good part about fast healing, after all, right? Well, he supposed he'd find out. After he was dressed, he called out through the door,

"You finished in there, Maka?"

"Yeah, Kid!" Was her response.

Kid nodded to himself before stepping out of the bathroom and walking over to the bed Maka was sitting on curled up with a book. He smiled at this before sitting beside her and flinching slightly. How would he be able to deal with blisters on his _back-side_?

Maka closed her book and set it down to look at Kid with concern.

"You look like you're in a lot of pain. Do you want to use some ointment?" She held the small canister out to him.

Kid nodded.

"A little." He took the salve and spread some on both his forearms as well as his face, wincing the whole time. He made sure to rub it all the way in and use no more ointment on one side than he did for the other. Once he was finished with that, he handed the ointment back to Maka. "Thank you, Maka. How is that burn of yours doing?"

Maka laughed.

"It's hardly anything compared to what _you_ have, Kid." But, then she sighed. "I don't know why you don't use some for your other burns..."

"It's all right." Kid smiled weakly. "I'm immune to all infection. And, besides, I should be able to heal by tomorrow morning." He really just didn't want to waste too much time spreading salve all over burns that would be gone soon enough. Instead, he wanted to talk to Maka. While they still had the chance. "So, Maka, do you like to listen to music?"

Maka tilted her head at Kid for a moment. Music. Well, that was a new subject. But, she nodded with a smile.

"I like slow jazz or alternative pop, usually, but rock can be nice to listen to sometimes. You?"

"Mostly classical." Kid shrugged. "I've listened to some rock, though, when Liz has played it too loudly." He chuckled.

Maka laughed.

"Right...and I like some classical, too."

In this manner, they talked for a while, maybe an hour or two, about their favorite this and their favorite that, their daily lives, and their school work.

It was late in the conversation that something struck Maka as she looked at Kid. Something she'd wanted to ask for a while. And, since they seemed to be trying to get to know each other…

"Hey, Kid, out of curiosity…What does your father look like? Beneath the mask, I mean…"

Kid blinked. Well, that had sort've come out of nowhere. But, then he realized, so had his question about music. So, Kid thought very hard for a moment before finally answering,

"He looks…basically, like me. Just older. It's been a while since I've seen his face, actually. But…" He twitched suddenly. "…I remember very clearly that all three of the sanzu lines in his hair were connected. Perfectly _symmetrical_…" Kid was collapsed in fetal position on Maka's bed in seconds. "Unlike _mine_! I'm worthless garbage! A pig! Scum! Asymmetrical trash! Not worthy of being a shinigami! Let me die. Die, depression, kill me n-"

Maka had all but pounced on Kid before he could continue. Her hands were gripping on to his shirt collar. Her eyes were glaring into his. She was straddling him.

"Shut-UP!" Maka shook Kid like a maraca, forgetting that she was disturbing his burns and blisters. It was obvious that she was tired of the usual pat-on-back, praising, way to get Kid out of his little "depressions". "Damnit, Kid! I told you, you're _not scum_! You have never _been_ scum! Or garbage. Or a pig. Or worthless. And you'll never _be_ any of that, in my eyes! Gah!" She shook her head like it was driving her insane. "You're always obsessing about symmetry and perfection, but don't you _see_, Kid?! You don't need to try to be perfect! You _are_ perfect!"

The silence that followed seemed to have its own echo.

Shocked by her own words, Maka let go of Kid and stumbled backwards to the other side of the bed. _To…To me, at least…_ She finished in her mind.

"Wh…What?" Kid's voice was just above a whisper.

"Nothing, nevermind." Maka had her chin resting on her knees as she tried not to blush.

For a good, long, time…The two teens just stared at each other. The way they had several times before. But, this time, for some reason…It felt different.

It wasn't until eleven o'clock that Kid spoke.

"Maybe, we should get some rest."

"M…Maybe, you're right…" Maka nodded as she got under her covers.

Kid climbed on to his own bed.

"Goodnight, Maka."

"Goodnight, Kid."

The lights went out. Both found themselves unable to sleep at first for a number of reasons.

But, unlike Kid, Maka eventually nodded off.

-----

"I kind've feel sorry for Tsubaki." Said Soul as he brutally and effortlessly kicked Black Star's "God-surpassing" ass in the videogame they were playing.

"Uh…Huh?" Black Star didn't seem to be paying so much attention to what Soul was saying. He was more concerned with _not_ getting his God-surpassing ass kicked.

"It's going to be nearly _impossible_ for Tsubaki to sleep while sharing a room with the Thompsons." Soul shook his head.

Black Star had apparently decided to tune in.

"I dunno. People tell me my snores cause hurricanes." He drawled. "Tsubaki's been able to sleep through _that_ when we've been on missions like this before…"

Soul laughed.

"Then, maybe she'll have no problem."

They played their videogame a little longer before Black Star spoke.

"Hey, Soul?"

"Yeah?"

"How come you're not sharing a room with Maka?"

"…She said she'd rather share a room with Kid." And that was all he wanted to say about it.

"Oh." Black Star couldn't seem to think of anything else to say.

Neither one would speak anymore till they would eventually wish each other "goodnight" at four o'clock in the morning.

-----

Tsubaki, meanwhile, was wondering how in the world anyone could sleep through the torture that Liz and Patty inflicted in their own slumber.

Black Star's snores were easily dwarfed by Patty. And Liz's muttering and suddenly yelling out in her sleep was enough to make Tsubaki creep towards insanity.

When Liz abruptly woke up from what Tsubaki guessed was a horrible nightmare, there began a long story-telling time with the elder Thompson as the narrator and the chain-scythe weapon as the victim.

"And-And then, there was a HUGE piece of cheese! But, it had legs! And it was chasing after you and me, and Kid and Patty and Maka and Black Star and Soul!" Liz declared. "S-So, Kid kicked the cheese. But, he got stuck and was _absorbed_! And then giant dominoes started to fall from the sky. So, we all got squished and _died_!"

"That's nice, Liz." Tsubaki droned sleepily before covering her head with a blanket. She was not used to staying up till three o'clock in the morning, obviously. "Night-night." She yawned. Despite Patty's near-apocalyptic snoring, Tsubaki was soon so far in dreamland that she could have slept through a pre-kishin attack.

"Oh…Okay. Night!" Apparently satisfied, Liz crawled back over to hers and Patty's bed. She soon fell asleep and didn't have a single nightmare for the rest of her snooze.

-----

But, Maka was having nightmares of her own.

"No…No…Kid! Anything, but…No…Don't…You'll get…I couldn't…NO! Agh…" She mumbled.

"Maka?" Kid reached over and shook the sleeping Maka's shoulder.

"Wha!?" Maka woke with a start, gripping Kid's arm as knee-jerk reaction.

"Having nightmares?" Kid smiled weakly as he climbed out of his bed and turned the lamp on without moving his hand from Maka's shoulder.

Maka nodded.

"It's nothing, though. You can go back to sleep."

"I wasn't sleeping, anyway." Kid shrugged as he sat beside his friend on her bed. "Would you like to talk about your nightmare?"

Of course, Maka realized he wouldn't easily just let her keep it bottled up. So, she told him.

"Well…This may seem stupid, but…I dreamt that the kishin god demanded one sacrifice to let the world live. It could be anyone. You…You volunteered, as the future guardian of the world." Without warning, Maka began to cry.

Kid raised an eye brow. That was all?

"Maka, you know I would never do that, right?"

Maka blinked away her tears before turning to Kid.

"Wh…What?"

"I would kill the kishin god, with your help. And Black Star's help. We would destroy the kishin god with our strengths. Like we destroyed the witch today. Not a single life would have to be sacrificed. Not mine. Not anyone else's." Kid insisted confidently, doing his best to comfort her in this way.

Maka breathed a sigh of relief, which actually surprised Kid a little.

"Right…Of course, you're right." She sounded convinced enough. "Sorry. My dreams can be stupid sometimes."

Kid shook his head and chuckled, giving Maka's un-burnt shoulder a playful squeeze.

"It's perfectly fine. Your dream wasn't stupid, Maka." He knew it was probably just her subconscious reaction to his blocking that fire attack for her earlier today. Speaking of which, Kid was glad that his skin seemed to have healed slightly and hurt a lot less. A lot of his blisters had apparently disappeared as well.

Maka smiled weakly.

"I…guess I _have_ heard ones that are more ridiculous." Like Liz's. "Thanks for listening, Kid. You can go back to-"

"_Trying_ to sleep, I suppose?" Kid gave a wry smile.

"You're having problems sleeping?" Maka sounded a little concerned.

"Can't stop thinking." Kid sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. He really hoped she wouldn't ask…

"Really? What can't you stop thinking about?" Maka tilted her head to the side, gave that little smile of hers, and looked at Kid with curiosity.

_Why does she look so cute like that?_ Kid was thankful that his sunburnt-looking skin, though no longer bright red, was still pink enough to hide any extra color that would creep into his face. Unable to lie to Maka with how she was looking at him, Kid answered cryptically,

"Everything."

Maka pouted.

"Aw, come on, Kid! Maybe, it'll help to talk about it…"

"You really want to know?"

"Yes." Maka was determined. And, when she was determined, there would be nothing that could stop her.

"All right. You." Kid answered honestly. He'd given up trying to hide it.

"H…Huh?"

"_You_." Kid repeated. "That's what I've been thinking about."

It was an honest answer with an honestly dumbstruck silence in response.

Maka felt her face heating up.

"Why?"

Kid groaned quietly.

"I don't know." He sighed, but then he looked Maka straight in the eyes. "Maka…Do you really think I'm…perfect?"

Maka gently wacked Kid in the back of the head.

"Don't get an inflated ego about it!" She laughed, blushing. Kid chuckled along with her, rubbing the place that Maka's hand had struck. His skin was still somewhat tender, so it had hurt more than Maka had meant for it to.

"But…" Maka spoke again. "Yeah…I _do_."

Part of Kid wanted to tell Maka that he thought the same way about her. But, it wouldn't come out. So, he just smiled and avoided her eyes.

"Thank you…" He then decided to change the subject after glancing at the clock to see it was 3:30 in the morning. "Maybe, though…You should get some sleep."

Maka frowned.

"I don't feel tired anymore." The combination of her horrible nightmare, talking with Kid, the thoughts now on her mind, and the lamp's light had somehow made her feel like she'd have no more luck sleeping than Kid did.

"Oh…" Kid blinked, thinking for a moment. Then, he snapped his fingers and smiled. "You know what the cure for that is? Warm milk."

Maka chuckled.

"How do you know that?" Kid didn't seem like the type to get nightmares…

"It's what Liz uses." Said Kid. "She sometimes has really bad nightmares that keep her from sleeping…"

"I know." Maka deadpanned, twitching slightly.

Kid stared at Maka for a moment, and then laughed. She laughed along with him.

"So, how does warm milk sound?" Kid asked once their laughter finally subsided. When she nodded, they climbed off of her bed.

Kid wrapped one of the blankets (as well as an arm) around her shoulders and they headed over to the kitchen. The shinigami opened the fridge and took out the quart of milk that they'd bought a couple days ago just in case they had to stay here much longer. He poured some of the milk into a mug and set it in the microwave. All the while, his arm stayed around Maka's shoulders and she didn't try to shake him away. Spirit, had he been watching, would have flipped his lid.

As the two teens drowsily watched the mug spin in the microwave, Maka spoke.

"Kid, I want you to promise that you won't put yourself in that kind of danger for me again."

"Ah…What?"

"Today, when you jumped in front of all that fire!" Maka looked at him. "It terrified me. For a second, I forgot that you were a death god…I was so afraid that you would…" She sniffed and suddenly buried her face in Kid's shoulder.

Kid sighed and held Maka close.

"I'm sorry…Maka. But, I won't make that kind of promise. And it's not just because I'm the future guardian of this world. I care about you, Maka. And I'm more likely to survive that which would kill…"

"But what if you _don't_ survive, if something like this ever happens again?!" Maka protested, looking up into her friend's golden eyes. "You're important! To everyone. You keep saying it, after all – You're the future guardian of the _world_! The only freely moving shinigami…If you died, _then_ what? You're needed in this world. But, if I died…" She frowned and looked away. "Well, it wouldn't be that bad."

"What the _fuck_ are you talking about?" Kid was taken aback by her last statement. So taken aback that he said the absolute rudest word that had ever passed through his lips. It was rare enough for the shinigami to curse at all. But, to use _that_ word? Unheard of. "'Wouldn't be that _bad_'?! Maka, you-…I mean, you are…Damnit, Maka! You mean so much to-"

Before he could get anything else out, however, he was interrupted by the microwave beeping to signal that it was finished. Kid let out a ragged sigh as he removed the warm milk and handed it gently to Maka, who seemed to be more than a little shocked by Kid's outburst, before they walked back over to sit down on her bed so that she could drink the milk.

She sipped slowly at it for a few minutes while Kid sat beside her and pensively stared at the opposite wall. Eventually, however, Maka spoke.

"Hey, Kid, can I ask you something?"

Kid was almost afraid to know the question, but he nodded anyway.

"What's your mother like?" Maka asked before drinking a mouthful of milk.

"I don't know." The death god answered honestly. "I've never met her. And Honorable Father has never brought her up in conversation…Neither has Professor Stein or your father. And they'd be the only other people to know anything about her."

Maka nodded slowly. Their fathers did know each other pretty well, didn't they? She sighed as she rested her head on Kid's shoulder.

"Funny how our fathers are partners, and yet…you and I haven't really gotten the chance to talk like this until these past few days."

"It is funny." Kid smiled slightly. He remembered seeing Maka briefly years ago, on a day when Spirit had come to give Kid's father some parenting advice. This being a talk regarding how to be a father, Spirit had brought Maka with him to use as an example. She and Kid, while their respective fathers conversed, had mostly just stared at each other from across the room. Little did either of the five year-olds know at the time, this would become an unspoken tradition when they met again as teens.

"Talking like this has been…really nice." Maka spoke, jolting Kid out of his wistful reminiscence. "Do you think we could spend time like this again…sometime soon…? Maybe…for a day?"

"Wait…" Kid's eyes widened. "You mean, like a _da_-"

"Uh, a f-friends' day out!" Maka laughed nervously, blushing considerably at the implications of her offer. She took a heavy gulp of her warm milk before turning to Kid. "So, what do you say? Day after tomorrow sound good?"

After recovering from the initial shock, Kid smiled. A _knowing_ smile.

"I would be honored."

And they sat this way in silence for a few moments, just enjoying each other's presence, before Maka finally finished her milk.

"Mm…You were right, Kid. I _am_ getting tired." She yawned, looking like she was about ready to fall asleep on Kid's shoulder then and there. Kid chuckled before taking the empty mug from Maka's hands, setting it down on the nightstand, and beginning to tuck his friend into bed.

"Goodnight, Maka." He whispered into her ear. Kid was about to walk over to his own bed, but Maka's hand quickly shot out to grip his wrist. Kid didn't even have enough time to blink before he was pulled back towards her.

"Night, Kid." Maka gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before letting go and burying herself under her covers.

For a moment, Kid just stared dumbstruck, eyes looking ready to pop straight out of his skull. His face heated up (to an even higher temperature than it had been since getting burned) and he sluggishly climbed into his own bed and turned out the lights.

Many thoughts crawled into his skull. The first was, _Why didn't she kiss me on the other cheek, too? Then, it would be symmetrical…Does she just want to torture me? _But, then he thought, _Why __**isn't**__ it torturing me as much as it should? Maybe, I'm just happy Maka gave me a kiss on the cheek at all…But, then, that brings up all sorts of really confusing questions…Like…what exactly is this…the start…of?_

Kid's thoughts drifted into nothingness as he fell asleep to dream of symmetry and Maka.

Maka, meanwhile, was having a peaceful rest herself. The nightmares were gone, replaced with some particularly happy dreams, and she wouldn't wake up again till eight o'clock in the morning. But, it had little to do with the warm milk in her belly.

To all beings evil, Death the Kid was their worst nightmare.

To Maka, Death the Kid was the _cure_ for the nightmare.

-----

A/N: YES! My very first finished story! X3 AND the very first romance I've ever written! So, how was that for an ending, huh? Yes. It was insanely long.

Rough word count: 16,800

O_O Yeeeah. Well, for all those who've been patiently waiting for an update, I hope you haven't been too disappointed. Even if you were, you should still be somewhat grateful. XD I worked almost nonstop till 2:00 AM in the morning for three or four nights to get this done. And the only reason I'd stop at that time was because the head-aches would start to kill me…Oh, yes, and…

ANNOUNCEMENT: Because this series has been so well-liked, I've decided I am going to write a sequel to "The Cure for the Nightmare"! :D I haven't decided on a title, yet. But, it will be done! ^^ So, I hope all of you look forward to that. The first chapter should be out in, maybe…a week or so. :p My plot-bunnies still need time to chew on that one.

In any case, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for the reviews, the favoriting, and the story alerts! :) It makes me feel warm inside.

Happy reading and writing, everybody!


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